I just read a moving post from Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds on B. B. Warfield, a theological giant and former Principal of Princeton Theological Seminary (1887-1902).

Justin had just read comments on the life of Dr. Warfield from Kim Riddlebarger. Specifically, he was touched by Warfield’s commitment to his wife in the midst of her long term illness. Here are some of the highlights:

Soon after marrying Annie Pearce Kinkead, who was also from noble stock, the newlyweds journeyed to Leipzig. . . .
During their stay in Europe an event occurred that would forever change the Warfield’s lives. While walking together in the Harz mountains, Mr. and Mrs. Warfield were caught in a violent thunderstorm. Annie Warfield suffered a severe trauma to her nervous system from which she never fully recovered. She was so severely traumatized that she would spend the rest of her life as an invalid of sorts, becoming increasingly more incapacitated as the years went by. Her husband was to spend the rest of their lives together giving her “his constant attention and care” until her death in 1915 (Allis, “Personal Impressions of Dr Warfield,” 10). B. B. Warfield could not have foreseen just how constant and difficult a demand this was to become, and how, in the providence of God, this would impact his entire career.
. . . Warfield’s remarkable literary output is, no doubt, in large measure due to the frail condition of his wife and his amazing devotion to her. With the pen he was a formidable foe, but as O. T. Allis recalls, “I used to see them walking together and the gentleness of his manner was striking proof of the loving care with which he surrounded her. They had no children. During the years spent at Princeton, he rarely if ever was absent for any length of time” (Allis, “Personal Impressions of Dr Warfield,” 10). Machen recalled that Mrs. Warfield was a brilliant woman and that Dr. Warfield would read to her several hours each day. Machen dimly recalled seeing Mrs. Warfield in her yard a number of years earlier during his own student days, but notes that she had been long since bed-ridden (Stonehouse, J. Gresham Machen, 220). Read the rest of this post here.

In reading this testimony of love and commitment, my mind went back to the early 90’s, and I remembered reading an article in Christianity Today by the President of Colombia Bible College (now Columbia International University) Robertson McQuilken. McQuilken had resigned from Colombia to care for his wife who was in the throws of Alzheimer’s. Her is an excerpt from his resignation speech:

Murial McQuilken died in 2003. Her husband cared for her to the very end.

In our Introducing Hope Series, which is our new member process at Hope, we spend a considerable amount of time working through the parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15. It is a great story of the results of our wayward attempts to make life work on our own along with the amazing grace of a loving and forgiving father.

I have seen this passage as one that could be entitled as both the parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the Prodigal Father. I ran across a great explanation of the dual meaning of this word from Tim Keller in a post by Tullian Tchividjian. Keller is addressing the question as to why his new book is titled, “The Prodigal God”.

Keller says, “The word ‘prodigal’ is an English word that means recklessly extravagant, spending to the point of poverty, of ‘being in want’ (Luke 15:14.) The dictionaries tell us that the word can be understood in a more negative or a more positive sense. The more positive meaning is to be lavishly and sacrificially abundant in giving. The more negative sense, is to be wasteful and irresponsible in one’s spending. The negative sense obviously applies to the actions of the younger brother in the Luke 15 parable of the two sons. But is there any sense in which God can be called ‘Prodigal’?

The answer is YES as Keller concludes by saying that “the title ‘Prodigal God’ calls attention not only to the mistaken way that legalists regard God’s gospel of grace (think elder brother), but also to how Jesus, though he was rich, spent everything without thought for himself, that we might be saved.”

Read the whole post here.

The book does not come out until October 2008 but you can pre-order it here.

I hate sitting through commencements but I love to read or watch some of the unique and insightful words from commencements speakers who address these excited and talented graduates.  I ran across one today that captured my attention.

J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivered the Commencement Address at Harvard entitled “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,”

With wit and candor she encouraged these new graduates to make a difference in the world amid times of failure and to harness their imaginations to help the hurting and oppressed in the world. 

Here are a few quotes that stood out to me:

On the Benefits of Failure - “So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

On the Power of the Imagination - Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

On Helping the Voiceless & Powerless - If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

Click here to listen or read this address.

Over at Justin Taylor’s Blog - “Between Two Worlds” - I discovered a very interesting post dealing with the “word cloud” program called Wordle.  They describe the program in this way:

“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

This makes for an interesting and eye opening visual as to what the Bible is all about.  Check these out:

New Testament Wordle — See a pattern?

Psalms Wordle -  Wonder what the focus of this piece of poetry is?

As I looked through some old files on my computer, I ran across a letter that I had typed up for my Dad over ten years ago.  He was 83 at the time.  He did not know how much longer he would be on this earth so he wanted to send a letter of faith to his family.  I teared up as I read through this sweet letter.  Dad passed away a couple of years ago so I remember and honor him this Father’s Day. 

My new life began at age 31 in 1946 after completing two and a half years in the U. S. Navy in California. After arriving in Memphis, I immediately took my job back at Ford Motor Co. They were very nice as they promised my job would be there when I returned from service. I was a frustrated person and not happy with anything. I stayed there several months and then a friend left and went with Chicago Southern Airlines now, Delta Airlines. He encouraged me to come with him as they needed a payroll clerk. C & S was a new and aggressive company with a future. I worked there a couple of years then on to another job.

Then my life changed. Modelle and I were attending a meeting one evening, and the question was asked, “Have you ever accepted Christ as your personal Savior?” My answer was; I think I have. I’m not sure. I go to church and enjoy my friends and am active in every way. Then he asked, “Would you accept Him as your personal Savior and put your life in His hands and be sure?” My answer was yes. Modelle and I both bowed our heads and asked Jesus Christ to come into our lives and take control. Praise God from that day forward I know He lives within me and the spirit of God guides in all that I do.

When I was young and at home, we always attended church, but I can never remember personally accepting Christ. I was baptized at the age of 10 in Mobile and married a sweet girl in 1939, and we have been happily married for 58 years with 2 sons as ministers. Our life is full of happiness and joy. Our greatest times now are watching our grandchildren play basketball and enjoying life to the fullest.

With this note I am sending you a copy of 1^st John 5 from my Bible. When I accepted Christ, these Scriptures came to life and changed my life and gave me the assurance of my salvation. Praise God!

I was in an important meeting a couple of days ago with the boss of my boss — i.e. our Sr. Pastor.  Things have been a little stressful around here at Hope — giving down, sanctuary to pay for, attendance up but not as much as we had hoped….  So, in my area of ministry, we are looking for ways to reach more people and encourage folks to go through our new members class.

Just when things were getting warmed up, and I was feeling the full pressure of my pastoral responsibly to grow the church — my phone rang.  Which would not have been a big deal — yes, I should have had it on vibrate but Craig’s phone had sounded off earlier so that was not a big deal.  The issue was that my wife was calling, and I had her customized ring on  —- Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On”.  As Craig figured out what the ring was, he laughed and said, “You know, I think I would answer that!”  Pretty funny.

Churches sure can get self absorbed in building their kingdom and forget the real importance of seeing God’s Kingdom built in this world. Being in a large church, the temptation can be even greater. We certainly know the struggle here at Hope.

We work hard a being the best we can be and desire to reach as many people as we can for the cause of Christ. We also have to work hard at remembering that Hope is not the only church on the block — that there are many great churches that reach certain people who would never and will never darken the doors of Hope. It is important to keep in good relationship with churches in our city. And to be willing to pass on the name of another church in the community who might be able to reach the needs of various people we come in contact with.

I received two letters this week that reflect this.

One Hope Visitor Said, “I was on your website and was impressed by your listings of churches. I was especially moved by the fact that there were churches listed that were in Memphis (your competitors). That said to me that Hope Church is interested in everyone finding the right church for them; whether or not it’s Hope, what’s really important if finding Christ.”

Craig wrote this in response to a couple who were leaving Hope to help with a church plant, “I was saddened to hear that you are leaving us to work with another local church.  However, I have always believed it is not about the Kingdom of Hope, but the Kingdom of God, so I am delighted to celebrate your new commitment.”

“Manifesto aims to make ‘evangelical’ less political” - USA Today

“‘An Evangelical Manifesto’ criticizes politics of faith” - CNN

“Christian Clerics Circulate ‘Evangelical Manifesto’ Urging Faithful to Avoid Single issue Politics” - Fox News

‘Evangelical Manifesto’ Aims to Depoliticize Religion - NPR

“‘Manifesto’ vexes evangelicals” - The Washington Times

“Evangelical leaders say their faith is too politicized” AP

These are the headlines reporting on a new document published and signed by various evangelicals entitled “An Evangelical Manifesto”. The purpose of the manifesto is stated as: “…. first to address the confusions and corruptions that attend the term Evangelical in the United States and much of the Western world today, and second to clarify where we stand on issues that have caused consternation over Evangelicals in public life.”

In the executive summary, it is stated: “First, we reaffirm our identity. Evangelicals are Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth.”

The core of the Evangelical faith is stated with these basic beliefs:

1. Jesus, fully divine and fully human, as the only full and complete revelation of God and therefore the only Savior.
2. The death of Jesus on the cross, in which he took the penalty for our sins and reconciled us to God.
3. Salvation as God’s gift grasped through faith. We contribute nothing to our salvation.
4. New life in the Holy Spirit, who brings us spiritual rebirth and power to live as Jesus did, reaching out to the poor, sick, and oppressed.
5. The Bible as God’s Word written, fully trustworthy as our final guide to faith and practice.
6. The future personal return of Jesus to establish the reign of God.
7. The importance of sharing these beliefs so that others may experience God’s salvation and may walk in Jesus’ way.

With this core theological understanding in place, they state that: “Second, we wish to reposition ourselves in public life. To be Evangelical is to be faithful to the freedom, justice, peace, and well-being that are at the heart of the good news of Jesus.”

I love this statement from the Evangelical Manifesto web site:

“As an open declaration, An Evangelical Manifesto addresses not only Evangelicals and other Christians but other American citizens and people of all other faiths in America, including those who say they have no faith. It therefore stands as an example of how different faith communities may address each other in public life, without any compromise of their own faith but with a clear commitment to the common good of the societies in which we all live together.”

This seems to be pretty solid and an important statement to be made to the culture. Those who have signed it are making a statement that the way the world sees Evangelicals is not necessarily a clear representation of ALL Evangelicals. It recognizes that the Evangelical movement has lost it’s way in some ways and needs to be redirected and redefined.

I look forward to reading the complete 20 page document. To do the same, and to see who has and has not signed the manifesto, check out their web site here.

What a great opportunity Laurie and I had this weekend. We were able to get away to downtown Memphis and play the tourist. It was a blast. We ate some delicious food — Sauces, The Majestic Grill, Cafe’ 61, Bluff City Bakery. We listened to some music on Beale — Beale Street on a Saturday night? We have NEVER done that. It was packed because of the Music Fest.

Check out some of our pics.

Riding the Tolley Down South Main —- Beale Street Music Festival - Note Mighty Mississippi River

W.C. Handy Statue on Beale —- E & H - Great Burger — Top Floor=Former Brothel - Walls Can’t Talk Thank God!

National Civil Rights Museum Saturday Night on Beale Street

Ted & Matt - Hope Musicians - Playing in Beale

Cool Trolley Shot by Laurie Downtown Memphis Reflection

Atop the Residents Inn

I wish I had a video of this, but if you listen to the beautiful version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by the late Hawaiian artist Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwoʻole, you will experience some of the sweetness of watching these special kids perform a hula dance this morning at Hope. 

We have the great privilege of hosting the annual Very Special Arts Festival put on the Memphis City Schools.   There will be over 1000 special needs kids who come through our doors to experience the music, the fun and the arts and crafts.  What a great opportunity for us to serve these children and the dedicated educators who love them every day. 

We are completely committed to serving our community with the facility that God has given us.  Later this spring we will be hosting the AP exams for Cordova High School, will have five high school graduations in our sanctuary and we will host the Memphis City School’s Principals Academy.

With all the bad press that the school system gets, I hope someone is out here reporting on this great event for these exceptional students.