The Beholder of Our Eyes

Don't tell my wife that I'm blogging. She failed to notice that my laptop was within reach of the bed.

Please understand this first of all: There's nothing seriously wrong with my eyes. I've got a really bad upper respiratory infection (i.e., a cold), that somehow a burst of Rocephin and Penicillin did not conquer. It has somehow crossed over into my left eye, which is pretty angry with the world right now. The ER doc today says it must be something "peculiar" (an unusual bug), that those two antibiotics somehow missed, so he followed up with something that sounded like a ten-sided regular polygon to me: Decadron. That and some Zythromyacin (I swear not to ANY of these spellings) and I'm to see whether I'm not good as new by Monday.

What about Sunday? Well, I do have a five-year-old son whose closet includes a pirate costume. An eye patch, a hook, I could preach on Jonah…anybody got a parrot I can borrow?

Right now the eye is pretty much matted over. So long as I leave my eye that way it doesn't hurt. It's going to get better. I'm happy for that. Right now it is just an inconvenience, thanks to the blessings of modern medicine.

I've been thinking a lot over the past few days about Dr. Al Mohler. I recall two years ago watching him struggle with the bright lights at the pastor's conference, suiting up injured in a way that inspired us all, I'm sure. His painful squints were painful to me—I wanted to run up onto the stage, hold him down, and force some Stevie Wonder glasses upon his face right then and there. His visage was not beautiful to see in his painful condition, but his commitment to the cause of biblical truth was (and that comes from someone who agrees with the position that Dr. Patterson articulated that day). Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, it is in the Beholder of our eyes, who gave them to us that we might use them to His glory, as Dr. Mohler did that day.

Anyway, as I've been Captain Hook for the past few days I've been thinking about him and giving thanks to God for the ways in which He has shepherded Dr. Mohler through difficult times. It keeps my little sick-day in perspective. A good friend who went to the Together for the Gospel conference tells me that Dr. Mohler was there, robust and enthusiastic. Praise the Lord who have given the complete and total healing for which we all prayed! By all accounts, Dr. Mohler is even healthier than he was at the beginning of the year.

Great News!

Caelan Cross is cancer-free!

What Is the Outcome, Then?

I've been posting a lot lately about speaking in tongues, driven there by the flow of current events. The gist of my viewpoint is simply this: I do not believe that the modern practice alleged to be speaking in tongues is the same as the New Testament spiritual gift of tongues.

That conclusion implies that the New Testament gift of tongues has ceased; thus my sentiments regarding A Posteriori Cessationism.

But what, in turn, does that conclusion imply? In other words, perhaps it is time to address the "So what" of my views regarding the New Testament sign gifts.

The Example of Dutch Slade

Nine years ago my path crossed with that of a man named Dutch Slade. Dutch is an accomplished physician turned preacher, philanthropist, and a dozen other things. He is the pastor of Pomona Baptist Church in the hinterlands southwest of Atlanta, GA. Dutch is a remarkable man. He believes that he has the gift of healing.

I'll never forget a story that Dutch told me. A little girl in their congregation was killed in an automobile accident. Paramedics pronounced her dead on the scene and drove her to the morgue in a nearby hospital. Dutch was both the family's pastor and a physician who had once sat upon the board of directors for that hospital. As a pastor, he hurried to the hospital and prayed with the devastated father and mother. Then he headed for the morgue.

A security officer met him as he reached the doors of the morgue. Dutch insisted that he was going in. The security officer insisted that he was not. Dutch informed the security officer that Dutch had been on the board when the hospital had constructed that particular wing, and that he was going in. Dutch walked past the security guard, who turned to follow.

Medical personnel (I can't remember whether it actually was the Medical Examiner or not, but I have images of Quincy in my mind) were in the room when Dutch walked in and located the little girl's broken, lifeless body. He wept over her. He took her hand, lifted his eyes to heaven, and prayed aloud for God to bring her back to life. Dutch's eyes were lifted toward heaven, every other living eye in the room was pointed straight toward Dutch.

He prayed for several minutes. The little girl remained dead. He put her little hand back down and turned to leave. When he turned, his eyes met those of a group of people wondering in unison, "Who is this crazy man?" (May I confess, at this point in my first hearing of the story, I was thinking, "Dutch, you do know that you're crazy, don't you?")

Here's what Dutch said, and I'll never forget these words. He looked at the group, and weeping he said, "I just wanted to ask God in case maybe He would bring her back to life."

And then Dutch added, "He can do that, you know."

And at the very moment that I heard that part of the story, all of my thoughts of Dutch's craziness were replaced with conviction about my own lack of faith. I wouldn't have prayed that prayer with all of those people because I would have been afraid of looking foolish. May God prevent me from ever being so worried about looking foolish that I'm unwilling to be a part of making God look powerful. His strength is perfected in our weaknesses.

What does this have to do with the foregoing posts in my blog? Please allow me to highlight a few aspects of this story.

1. Dutch was not timid in what he prayed for. He went for a genuine miracle of biblical proportions. Several people in the Bible rescusitated the dead, so this is clearly within God's power and there is precedence for God to do this in response to believing prayers. Such a thing has never happened in my lifetime, nor in the lifetime of our nation. I don't know why. Maybe we don't ask enough. Maybe, even if we asked every day, God just has some inscrutable divine reason not to want to do that today. But that doesn't mean that we can't ask. If I found myself unexpectedly in the middle of an opportunity to share Jesus with a bunch of people with whom I shared no common language, I would have no problem praying for a manifestation of the gift of tongues. It never hurts to ask, and to ask boldly.
2. Dutch was honest about the results. God said no. Dutch didn't try to explain it away. He didn't invent some lesser way that God had really and truly answered his prayer. Dutch just acknowledged that, in His great wisdom, God had another plan. Good for Dutch. The difference between men like Dutch Slade and charlatans like Benny Hinn is the difference between daylight and darkness.
3. Dutch did not let God's answer weaken his faith. If the occasion arises again, I promise you that Dutch Slade will do exactly the same thing over again. I admire that.

So, my problem with what people call speaking in tongues today is not that I am opposed to the supernatural. Neither am I opposed to the idea of people desiring otherworldly experiences with the power of God. Yet, from 1901 to today, this present-day practice gives every evidence of having earthly and human causes rather than heavenly and divine causes (and there's a statement I'll have to back up in another post soon). The only thing that makes me want to acknowledge it as true is my respect for some of the human beings who participate in it—human respect rather than awe before the evident hand of God. If that little girl had gotten up off that table, then an undeniable outpouring of the power of God would have taken place in that Georgia morgue. What passes for speaking in tongues these days simply is nothing like that.

What, then is the outcome, my brothers? For me, my a posteriori cessationism is not about a difference in my belief about what God can do. It is not about a difference in my hope for what God will do. I just want us to be honest about what God is doing.

My respect for fellow believers, powerful and significant as it is, is no justification for me to put the Holy Spirit's name behind something that I don't think the Holy Spirit is doing. Pray for such things all that you want, but let's not put our words into God's mouth, intelligible or otherwise.

This Weekend

This weekend was wonderful. The Intercession Sunday was one of the best things we have ever done. Allow me to sketch out the day for you:

1. We began with baptism—always a good start.
2. We sang for a while, and John did a great job.
3. Testimony: One of my foremost objectives for the day was to have a serious, hopeful service focused on the power of God to address our problems, but to do so in a way that was theologically honest. Two families in our church stood up together and gave a joint testimony to the power of God. Eleven years ago, the McGuires and the Jameses both discovered that their children had leukemia. Our church ministered to both families at precisely the same time. These two families kept up with each other on the phone and in person, praying with one another weekly. The McGuires' little girl was healed—full remission. Justin James died. These two families stood and glorified a God who is able to work powerfully both in situations where we get what we ask for and in situations where we do not. There was not a dry eye in the house.
4. Sermon: My big mistake was in scheduling myself to speak immediately after that testimony. I was quite choked up in the early service. I preached from John 9 and 2 Corinthians 12. In both cases, people asked God for healing. The godliest, holiest, and most believing of the two was the one who wasn't healed. Yet the emphasis in both passages is upon the power of God. In the case of the man born blind, God demonstrated His power by healing the man. In Paul's case, God demonstrated His power by not healing him. Our prayer ought to be that God will show Himself powerful in our lives, however that might happen. Let us never throw in the towel and act as though our God is weak. Let us remember that God demonstrates His power in many ways.
5. Prayer for the sick: We invited all of those who wanted prayer for any physical illness to remain seated while the congregation stood. I encouraged members who were standing to go to someone seated, ask them for what they wanted prayer, and to pray for them. This took about four minutes.
6. Prayer for relational, emotional, financial, employment, etc., problems: We provided index cards throughout the pews. I invited all of those who had a problem in one of these areas or who knew someone who had a problem in one of these areas to write out the specifics on a card, bring it to the altar, and place it face down. I assured them that immediately after the service I was going to shred the cards without reading them. The floodgates opened. I saw some people bringing cards two or three separate times. After everyone had brought all of the cards that they wished to bring, I led us in prayer for the needs represented there.
7. Prayer for spiritual healing: Using the same index cards, I invited people to bring cards for anyone they knew who was lost or in rebellion against God. I also invited them to come to the altar and pray for anyone they wished or for their own spiritual awakening. Also, our pastors stood at front to receive any who wished to make public commitments.

So far, it has been a thoroughly positive experience. It touched many people in our church to see how many needs there were. Our people felt closer to one another having prayed for one another's problems. Of course, we still await word of how God has answered the prayers we lifted up on Sunday. May He demonstrate Himself powerful and bring glory to His name!

So, there's a report from the weekend. Regular blogging will resume later this week, once this week's service is safely planned well.

Speaking of regular blogging, I find that I'm a much, much better pastor the past few days since I'm not blogging. I'm not giving it up, but I'm seriously considering expanding the number of contributors to Praisegod Barebones. That would keep the site consistently running but would prevent any one person from being overburdened. First Baptist Church of Farmersville runs about 330 in Sunday School and has three pastors. That's big enough to keep me really busy but not quite big enough to have the luxury of delegating out a whole lot of stuff. God called me to preach, not to blog, so I'm looking for a way to remain faithful to my calling while continuing to pursue this little avocation that I have come to enjoy so much. I have a couple of people in mind already...folks who do not already have a blog but ought to. I'll let everyone know what I come up with.