Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor

I have just finished reading Don Carson's book about his father. It was refreshing to read about a man who was a faithful minister of the Gospel. Don Carson is one of the most brilliant Biblical scholars I have heard and it was a delight to see the love and respect he had for his dad. One of our great pleasures was to have Don Carson in our home though our son will never forgive us for spending the time talking about skunks when we could have talked about Don Carson's work. Don Carson is also an ordinary man.
As I prepare for this coming Sunday evening when we will look at the furniture of the Holy Place I have been drawn to the bread on the table of showbread. The bread speaks of Christ but it also speaks of the Word. Tom Carson (Don's dad) was a man who loved the Scriptures and his life reflected that love.

No Chairs

Tonight we were down at the Bibles For Missions store and the one piece of furniture that sells well is a chair. I have been in many home to pick up furniture and every home I have been in has a chair. However, there was no chair in the Tabernacle. The priests work was never done. But when Jesus ascended into heaven His work was completed so He sat down at the right hand of God the Father.

Altar of Incense

Bible League of Canada

Last night we attended a banquet for the Bible League of Canada. The two speakers were Joel Nederhood (who I am pictured with) and Brian Stewart, Canada's leading foreign journalist. Both speakers talked about the Word of God. Dr. Nederhood talked about how the Word must be in our hearts. Brian Stewart talked about how Christians and the Word of God led him to seek after God.
Both men were outstanding and I was glad that I was one of over 1000 people who attended that event. However, both men were there to bring attention to the Word of God.
The Table of Showbread was magnificent but one did not just look at the table. The table was to display the bread. The table was nothing without the bread. The Bible often is compared to the bread of life.

Table of Showbread

Come in, stay out

Doors serve two purposes. They are a way to come in and they are a means of keeping out. We have doors on our houses so that we can enter but we can also keep others out. The door to the Holy place was a way of entering but the veil to the Holy of Holies was to keep people out. Only the high priest could enter and that only once a year. On the curtain to the Holy place there were no Cherubim but on the veil there were woven in Cherubim. Cherubim were the guardians of God's holiness.
Sometimes the doors to our churches are welcoming place allowing people in but there are times when they are a way of blocking people from coming in. Our pastor in Thunder Bay pointed out that our church had more ways of getting out than getting in. I am not saying that churches should always have their doors open but churches do need to let people know that they are welcome to come in.

More Water

Thanks to my friend Dale for allowing me to post this. This is a devotional he did for a Christian Farmers dinner a couple of years ago.

Water; when we have too much of it we grumble. When we don’t have enough of it we pray. The rest of the time we scarcely think about it. Water has been the cause of more wars than oil or gold.
The estimated supply of water on the Earth is 330 million cubic miles. Each cubic mile contains over a trillion gallons of water. 97% of the water is contained in the oceans. The Great Lakes contain 1/5 of all the liquid surface water in the world. One guess is that there is enough groundwater beneath North America to cover the continent with a sheet of water 100 feet deep. One inch of rain drops 100 tons of water on a 100 acre farm.
Water is one of the most unique elements in the natural world. It exists in all three states; solid, liquid and gaseous. It is most dense at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. That is why ice floats in water. If it didn’t that would make for a lot of wet ice fishermen.
We use water for nourishment, power generation, recreation, comfort, cleaning and transport. Most of us have ancestors who came to North America via waterways. In south-western Ontario we have abundant water around us, above us and beneath us.
The topic of water pervades the pages of the Bible. It is mentioned at the start; the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). It is mentioned at the end; come whoever is thirsty…take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22:17).
Water destroyed the world in the days of Noah. Joseph was tossed into a dry cistern, pulled out and sold as a slave into the land of the Nile. Moses turned those waters into blood to deliver the house of Israel. He then parted the waters of the Red Sea to lead the children of God out of bondage and Joshua parted the waters of the Jordan to return the Hebrew children to the Promised Land. Moses struck the rock to bring forth a spring of refreshing water in the desert and consecrated the basin which held the water of the tabernacle which ceremonially cleaned the priesthood of Aaron before they approached the altar of God.
Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days. People can survive over a month without food but will go mad and die of thirst in a week’s time. Water, in baptism, is the symbol of the new birth of Christian faith. Many of the disciples were fishermen and earned their livelihood on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus turned the wedding waters of Cana into wine, warned about floods and shifting foundations and thirsted upon the cross.
Yes, water is more abundant beyond all our finite comprehension. Yet the most precious water, in the eyes of God, is those tears of water shed by the repentant sinner. The Bible tells us that if we sow in tears we shall reap in joy (Psalm 126:5). The harlot who anointed Jesus with perfume and washed his feet with her tears was justified ahead of the self righteous Pharisee. We can laugh so heartily as to be moved to tears or mourn so deep to cry tears of sorrow. Even Jesus, before he knew he was to revive Lazarus, wept before the tomb of his friend.
We are surrounded by so much water we rarely give it our full appreciation. We will pray for our daily bread but without the water to grow the grains there would be no flour to bake the bread. Let us strive to be more thankful for our food and water for without water there would be no life.

The Lamp Stand

Water

I was born in Northwestern Ontario and though we moved away when I was a toddler we moved back when I was a teenager and I lived there for over forty year. One thing about NW Ontario is that there is an abundance of water. Water is the source of life but water is also for cleansing. The Word of God is often compared to water as it not only brings life but it also is a cleansing agent. Without water there would be no life and without the Word there would not be any spiritual life.

Time to wash again.

The Tabernacle not only teaches us about reconciliation but it also teaches us about sanctification. When the priests first came to serve in the Tabernacle they had to be washed completely but as they ministered day by day they only had to have their hands and their feet washed.
The first church of which I was a member believed in sanctification as something that was a separate work to that of salvation. The second church that I joined believed that sanctification was a once and for all work that corresponded to salvation. Which was right? They both were right. However, there is error when we teach one and ignore the other.
First, there is positional sanctification. We are sanctified when we are saved. This is a once and for all event. Second, there is practical sanctification which is ongoing. We are sanctified once and for all and we are being sanctified daily through the Word and the Spirit. Just as the priests needed washing from the dust and dirt of their daily lives so do we.
The danger of looking at sanctification as only a once and for all event is that we do not see that the contamination of the world has affected us and made us unclean. The danger of looking at sanctification as a different event we think we have to do something to earn it. Like salvation it is a work of grace.
Thank you Lord for giving us a model to follow. Thank you for the Tabernacle.

Go West Young Man

The gate of the Tabernacle was on the east side so to go east from the Tabernacle would be to go away from God while to go west would be to go toward Him. When Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden the gate to the garden was on the east side and they would go east away from God's presence. Cain separated from the people of God and settled to the east.

The Brazen Altar

The largest piece of furniture in the Tabernacle was the brazen altar. It was the first piece of furniture that you would have come to when you entered the courtyard. No one could go in or out except by the altar.
Similarly there is no way to God but by the cross. Jesus died on the cross so that we could have access to God but it means that we must come in by the cross.

The Gospel According to Starbucks

I picked up a copy of this book at our thrift store and I decided to read it to see if I could understand the Emergent church. The book did not deserve the time but I read it any way. In reading the book I got the feeling that Leonard Sweet thinks that Coffee is god and that Starbucks is the temple to worship this new god. He even refers to Jehovah Java as the title for the epilogue.
Interestingly when Sweet wrote the book Starbucks was opening new stores daily but less than one year later they were in decline. What does this say about the marketing approach that some people want to use in the church.
When we are told to preach the Gospel it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not Starbucks. The Emergent church authors do not want to go to the Bible to find answers for the church but will go anywhere else including Starbucks.
To quote one person "Not sure how to fix Starbucks, but Scripture gives us clear understanding of how a church will prosper."
My recommendation: Don't waste your time. This book deserves to go the way of those Starbucks coffee houses that are closing.

Computers

Last night technology let me down. We could not make the power point presentation work so we did a change. Instead Mike and I sat on chairs and discussed the coverings of the Tabernacle. One person told me afterward that she preferred that method to the other. However, it is not a method that works every week. It was just good to talk back and forth regarding the Tabernacle and the coverings and to discuss together what those coverings meant.

Transfiguration

As I was thinking about the application to the coverings of the Tabernacle my heart was drawn to the transfiguration. While Jesus walked this earth people saw His humanity but for a brief moment that current was pulled back and Peter, James and John saw something greater, they saw His glory. It was like the first time a young priest made his entrance into the Tabernacle and instead of seeing the rough seal skin covering he saw the beauty of the inner covering.

Historical Church Tour

When we lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario we were part of an historical church tour. Included in the tour was our church, First Baptist. Our church was built in 1905 and had a large magnificent stained glass window depicting Christ knocking at the door. Though the window was on the east side facing a main street it was not that significant from outside. You had to go into the church to see the real beauty of the window.
One of the churches on the tour was the catholic church across the street from our church. It is the church that is pictured here. Outside it was an ordinary looking building but inside the vaulted ceilings and the wood work was beautiful. I had seen that church for over 40 years but it wasn't until I went into the building it I see its beauty.
This is the way it was with the Tabernacle. From the outside it looked like another Bedouin tent with a seal skin cover but if one went into the Tabernacle you would see the real beauty.
It is also this way with our Lord Jesus Christ. In His humanity there was nothing about Him that we would desire Him but when one enters into a relationship with Him through salvation one gets to see the beauty.

Locks

I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan. I don't think any of our buildings had locks on them. If we went away for a few days we didn't have to lock anything up. After we moved to the city my father went to England for six weeks. He didn't bother locking his door. Maybe he thought that there was nothing worth stealing or more likely he thought that if anyone did go in and take anything they probably needed it more than he did.
Now we lock everything. I parked my car in a church parking lot in the daytime in full view of the office and the room where we were meeting and someone broke my window and stole a camera. When we lived in the Philippines we came home one day to find the door knob missing from the front door. We were sure that someone had broken in so we were very carefully when we opened the door. We found that our house helper had to break in because the lock wouldn't work.
Unlike our house on the farm where we had very few valuables the Tabernacle contained seven pieces of furniture that were worth millions of dollars in today's currency and yet there were no locks, in fact there was no real doors.

Gazebo

Two years ago we bought a gazebo for our backyard. The first bad storm tore holes in the canvas cover. We ordered a new one and Marjory patched the old one. We got one more year out of the old one. It only lasted two years. Amazingly the Tabernacle lasted much longer than 2 years, it lasted almost five hundred years. Only God's protection and power could keep it from wearing out.

Hidden from view 2

When God made this world He made some creatures that only He could see. Why did He do that? Here are some pictures from the deepest part of the ocean, pictures of creatures that we will never see.


There were things hidden from view in the Tabernacle. We especially find that to be true regarding the two inner coverings.

My Thanksgiving Tribute

This was written by my friend Mary. Thanks to Mary for sending it to us.

As I sit here, I wonder what I want to say on thankfulness. Where do I start giving thanks for all the blessings in my life.

First and foremost, I want to thank God for a good husband. It will be 45 years next month we have been together. It doesn’t get any better than that.

I’m thankful for my home, for food on the table, for each of us having a car to drive, clothes on our backs, and a mind and body that works well. We have all we need and I realize it is all from the hand of God.

I thank him also for Christian brothers and sisters I have met. What a wonderful blessing to be in the family of God. To pray for each other, build each other up and encourage. For the Pastors and elders that lead our little flock, although sometimes, I realize they are hurting themselves. For the wives of these Godly men who are a quite strength behind them. For the leaders that handle music, children, extra programs and teaching, I am truly grateful.

There is no way on God’s green earth I could fill the space for things to be thankful for. For fall leaves and colors, migration, Indian summer and rainy days, they are all his handiwork. For the squirrels collecting nuts and storing them to blue jays squawking at our windows to be fed peanuts again, I love it all.

So folks, when you are enjoying thanksgiving with your family or friends, or even eating alone, be sure to give thanks to a creator who thinks you are the center of his heart.

Happy Thanksgiving

Bob and Mary

One Day

The second covering was of goats hair. To understand the significance of the goats in redemption one must look at Leviticus 16. "Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat." Leviticus 16:7 - 10
J. Wilbur Chapman wrote a hymn that shows this. The hymn is called "One Day" and the chorus goes like this:
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever.
One day He's coming - oh, glorious day!

Geodes

Geodes are ordinary looking rocks but when they are cut open the show unusal beauty.


The first set of coverings was called the Tabernacle because it actually comprised the roof of the main structure. There were ten curtains that made up this cover and they were made of fine linen. It was only seen by those who ministered within the Holy place or the Holy of Holies. Like Jesus the beauty is hidden from those who are not inside. Peter, James and John saw that glory on the mount of transfiguration.

Yom Kippur 2

The LORD said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.
There are three aspects of this day that apply to us as Christians.
1. The fast. The early Christians observed this fast. "Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast." Acts 27:9
2. The High Priest. That Old Testament observance was a direct fore-picture of Jesus Christ, our High Priest (Hebrews 9:11), Who, after His Sacrifice, entered the very Throne Room of God The Father in heaven to make atonement for us.(Hebrews 9:11-12)
3. The Scapegoat. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. Leviticus 16:10

Yom Kippur

Tonight at sundown marked the beginning of Yom Kippur or the day of atonement. This was the day that the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Hidden from view

When God made this world He made it extremely beautiful. There are lakes, mountains, valleys, trees, plants, flowers, animals, birds, etc. However, some of the beauty is completely hidden from view. There are fish that live so deep in the sea that man has never seen them. There are insects that man has never seen and there are those stars and galaxies beyond our vision.
When He instructed Moses on the making of the Tabernacle He told him to make four different coverings for the Tabernacle. One was only seen from the outside, one from the inside only and the other two were hidden from view. It is as if there are something God made are for His eyes only.

"I am the Gate" Jesus

Last night we were looking at the outer walls of the Tabernacle and my friend and co-teacher, Mike, talked about Jesus and His words from John 10:9 "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture."
He pointed out three things:
First, Jesus is the gate, not one of many gates but "the gate". There are not many paths to God but only one. The first responsibility of anyone is to go in by that gate. When he does he will be saved. That salvation is more than salvation from destruction and condemnation but is an entering into rest.
Second, Jesus says that he who has entered will be able to go in and out. Now that does not refer to our salvation but to our life and service in the world. Having gone in for salvation we can now go out to serve.
Thirdly, we will find pasture. Pasture again speaks of rest, contentment, feeding. Have we truly found pasture or are we so busy "doing" that we have no time for "being"?

Why a fence?

People put up a fence for a number of reasons. The two most common are to keep in and to keep out. We have a fence in our backyard for privacy as well as to "keep out". We have a swimming pool and it is required by law that you have a fence so that no one accidentally wonders into your backyard and falls into your pool. When I lived on a farm we had fences to keep the animals in and when we lived in the Philippines we had a fence to keep intruders out.
So what was the purpose of the fence around the Tabernacle?
It was a barrier that prevented unlawful approach.
It was a protection, keeping out all wild beasts.
It was a clear line of demarcation between the world and the holy presence of God.
With a single gate it was the only way of approach to God.
The fence was also tall enough so that anyone could not see over it. It was to remind people that God was holy.

One Door and Only One

When I was growing up in Sunday School we used to sing a chorus that went:
One door and only one
And yet its sides are two
Inside and outside
And which side are you?
One door and only one
And yet its sides are two
I'm on the inside
And which side are you?
The door to the courtyard was the only way in and it speaks so clearly of the fact that there is only one way to heaven. Even as you went through that door you had to go by the altar and to get to heaven you must go by the cross.

Pillar of truth

The wall of the Tabernacle was held up by 60 pillars. The pillars were probably of acacia wood with a silver cap and silver bars between them to keep them evenly spaced. The base of the pillar was set in a bronze base which was buried in the sand and the pillars were held up by cords attached to bronze pegs. Each of the articles speak in some way of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul tells Timothy, "If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." 1 Timothy 3:15 The church is to be a pillar and foundation of truth. Jesus tells us plainly in John's Gospel that His Word is truth. He also says that He is truth. The church must not abandon the Word of God which is its foundation of truth.

Reason to Believe

I have just finished reading R. C. Sproul's book, Reason to Believe, and I would recommend it to everyone. It is a response to the common objections to Christianity and Sproul deals with them in a readable format without giving pat answers.
He is not afraid to deal with current objections such as Christ as the only way to God, the problem of evil in the world and why does God allow suffering.

Our house in Manila

When we lived in Manila we lived in a house that was surrounded by a fence. If you look you will see broken glass embedded in the top of part of the fence. The purpose of the fence was to keep unwanted intruders out. The local residence were surprised that our house in Canada did not have such a fence around it. The fence around the Tabernacle was to show that there had to be a separation from the world. Unlike the fence around our house in Manila it wasn't there to keep people out but to show the separation between sinful man and a holy God. The fence also showed the people that there was only one way to approach the Holy God.