McCheyne’s Counsel to A Young Man

“Do not forget the inner man, the heart. The cavalry officer knows that his life depends upon his saber, so he keeps it clean. Every stain he wipes off with the greatest care. You are God’s chosen instrument. According to your purity, so shall be your success. It is not great talent; it is not great ideas that God uses; it is great likeness to Jesus Christ. A holy man is an awesome weapon in the hand of God.”
-Robert Murry McCheyne

The Hound of Heaven

Here are the first few stanzas of a great poem by Francis Thompson (1859-1907). I read this poem a few years ago, and the beauty and truth that Thompson portrays has hounded me ever since. Do you also relate with this poet?

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbéd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”

You can read the rest of Thompson’s poem by clicking here. By today’s standards, it is a long poem; but trust me, this poem is well-worth your time.

The Plow

My heart is a field, a fallow plot of old ground.
The Word is a plow, with a keen, double blade.
With thunder and lightning and a terrible sound,
While torrents of rain and soft dews have played,
The Lord of the this field has labored and toiled.
The plow is now tearing through soil half-thawed
—Too long this old land has lay barren and moiled
In weeds overgrown, in a thorn-spangled sod—
O, tear through this soil, all-victorious plow!
The trumpet has sounded, the year has now come,
Let Jubilee freedom, at the Husbandman’s clout,
Bring this field into submission, to yield a grand sum:
A hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold harvest!
O sow your seed, when my soul-soil is readied;
You, O God, above all are the greatest!
(I give thanks that your hand is by gentleness steadied.)

Here Comes My Bride

She’s waiting for me. I’ve been preparing a place for her. We can’t wait to celebrate with our friends and family at our wedding!

Oh, Lord you have been so faithful and loving to bring Melody into my life! Help me to love and cherish her like you cherish your Church. Amen

“And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” – Hosea 2:19-20

A Chance to Die

Some might consider the picture in this post just plain old morbid, but I couldn’t help but clip it out and stow it away when I saw this thought provoking picture of bride and groom skeletons in a souvenir ad from the Chicago Field Museum.

The skeletons in the picture have something to do with pirates, I think. The skeletons I will be writing about have something to do with marriage. No, this is not a post about degrading marriage—the death I am writing about here is a different kind of death than physical death. I am writing about a harder and higher kind of death. It is death to self so that others may live. It is self-sacrifice. It is servanthood.

Elisabeth Elliot wrote a book about called A Chance to Die. Her book is about a missionary to India named Amy Carmichael. In a few days I will have a similar “chance to die” when I covenant in marriage to my best friend, and sister in Christ, Melody Nicole. The death we will enter together is a happy death, the kind of death we dream about with smiles on our faces.

Melody and I took a walk in a grave yard the other day (yes, that seals it, we are very morbid people!) we talked about how we want to die to ourselves and live for each other in our marriage.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:21

And

“For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” – 1 Corinthians 7:4

Most people don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. But I do want to die to myself. And marriage will be a forging place for greater self-sacrifice, for death to my selfishness. But, you might ask, I thought marriage is a happy joy-filled thing. Being married is painless. Right?
Wrong.
Even in the most blissful of marriages there are storms. And there will be storms ahead for Melody and I, I am sure (in fact, we’ve already endured some pretty big waves). Our natural reactions to the storms of life is to look out for our own best interest, but Jesus teaches us to lay our lives down for our friends. Laying your life down for your friend is the true test of love.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13

The prophet Nehemiah records a similar exhortation of love. This exhortation is violent!

“Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” – Neh. 4:14

I have a favorite part in Warren Barfield’s song called “Love Is Not A Fight.” Mr. Barfield says somethings about love that are very similar to these Bible passages.

In the chorus we hear:

“Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it’s something worth fighting for”

When I say “I Do” on our wedding day, I am promising to Melody, and to the whole world, that I am making a covenant to lay my life down for my bride. Pain or no pain, I am gladly taking this “chance to die.” Why? Because I love Melody.

Whoppee!

The High Call of Marriage

A few weeks ago, I threw a bachelor’s party for Josiah. It wasn’t a rowdy, rude event, but a time to encourage Josiah and to celebrate with him. David W.—one of the guests at the party (he is also going to be one of Josiah’s groomsmen)—wrote a letter to Josiah for this event. This letter was really encouraging, and so Josiah and I asked David if we could post it here.

May you also be encouraged!

Dear Josiah,

It’s been a privilege getting to know you, and I am so thankful to our sovereign God for making our paths cross in His perfect timing. You’ve been an encouragement to me as I’ve seen your zeal and love for the Lord Jesus and your desire to pursue holiness for His glory. I have been particularly impressed by the prayerful, sober way you conducted your courtship with Melody, and how, lately, you have sought the counsel of godly mentors in preparing for the covenant of marriage. Your example inspires me, and it is a bright light to the many young people who know you, including my own children.

As I reflected upon the high calling of marriage, the scripture that came to me was Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

You cannot succeed in marriage without the cross of Christ. Your covenant relationship with Melody will become your primary opportunity for being crucified with the Savior, loving her as Jesus loved His church, and laying down your interests for hers. This giving of yourself is a fountain of deepest blessing, so don’t hold anything back. Strengthened by Christ’s love for you, follow His example of making yourself nothing, “taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7)”. This is the ultimate place of paradox. The servant-leader is the most powerful leader of all, for when you are serving, the power of Christ shines through you.

I am praying that God will grant you a Christ-centered vision for your home, so that your family will always be a City on the Hill (Matthew 5:14). And, again, this will happen by the way of the cross. For when an entire family sets aside its own interests for the interests of others, those in darkness are drawn to Christ’s light. So, don’t let this world distract you with its vain goals for families. Spend your time and resources carefully, strategically, for His glory. Be the visionary who is always on the lookout for those in need, and lead your family to be the powerful ministry tool that is always ready to serve a hot meal in Jesus’ name.

I say these things not as an expert, but as one who is striving alongside of you. Please know that the W. home is always open to you and your family as we spur each other on in the pursuit of knowing Christ and making Him known.

In the Savior’s love,

David

(David W. is a husband and a father of six children. For the past few years, he and his family have been a great source of fellowship, wisdom, and joy to both Josiah and Melody.)

Spurgeon on “…let us cleanse ourselves…”

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).”

photo courtesy of JoyInTheLittleThings blog

“It is easy to find out others’ faults and to bring the whole force of our mind to bear against them. It is delightful to expose vice and lampoon the follies of the age, adding a dash of wit to enliven it, or to preach virtue, with a little of the sugar of scandal to sweeten a painful tale. It highly gratifies some people when they can find a fault with some highly respected person. That is their forte, the strength of their genius, pulling to pieces what they could not put together and attempting to raise themselves by lowering others. But notice, the apostle says,”Let us cleanse ourselves.” It is all very well to drag the church of God up to the alter like some bleeding victim, and there to stab her with the sharpest knife of our criticism and to say that she is not this and she is not that. One might rather ask, “How far do I help to make her what she is? If she is degenerate, how far is that degeneracy consequent upon my having fallen from the high standing that I should have occupied?” We shall all have contributed out quota to the reform of the church when we are ourselves reformed. There can be no better way of promoting general holiness than by increasing in personal holiness.”
-C. H. Spurgeon, A Passion for Holiness in a Believer’s Life(compiled and edited by Robert Hall)

Our Cup Overflows

Passover 2009

My fiancée, Melody, and I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends and family as we prepare for our marriage together. As we have been showered with gifts I am reminded of a line in the song that will be sung as my lovely bride walks down the isle to at our wedding ceremony:

“All I have needed, His hand will provide.”

O Jesus, make us a thankful people. We don’t want to be like the nine ungrateful lepers of the ten that you healed—help us come back to the gift-givers and say “Thank you.” Not only have you provided for us with treasure chests full of wise counsel from many the married couples speaking into our lives, but You have also provided for all of our physical needs as well. Thank you for providing a house in such a miraculous way—when we thought we could only afford an apartment! Lord Jesus, please help us to fill the home you have provided for us with joy and hospitality to others. You, O Lord, have always been faithful. Your hand has always provided, and Your hand always will provide for all of our needs—pressed down, shaken together and overflowing.[1] Our cup overflows![2] Thank you!

___________________
1.) Luke 6:38 (ESV)
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

2.) Psalm 23:5 (ESV)
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Pray for Carlee Hobbs

It has been a long time since either Josiah or I have posted here, and even now I’m not going to post anything about either of us. Rather, I would like to ask you to pray for a family friend.

Nathaniel, Carlee and baby Caleb

Carlee (Sobie) Hobbs, her husband, Nathaniel, and their children live up in Alaska. Just a few months ago, while pregnant with their fifth child, Carlee was diagnosed with breast cancer. So as to be able to begin treating the cancer, the doctors brought the baby to be born a bit early. Praise God!—despite some challenges, the little guy is now doing pretty well. And now Carlee is undergoing cancer treatments.

But there is another character that I have not introduced yet—in fact, I think the Hobbs would urge me to identify him as the main character. This is the Lord God Almighty. Through all of the profound trials and difficulties that the Hobbs family are walking through right now, they have been leaning on the arm of their Lord and Savior…and joyously telling of his mercy and kindness as they go!

To learn how to pray for the Hobbs family, and to read of their incredible testimony of faith, I encourage you to visit Carlee’s blog.

Pray for healing and strength! Pray for God’s name to be lifted up and magnified!

Treasure Hunt

I had to think of some way to get Melody to my favorite spot in the woods so I could propose to her without her suspecting anything beforehand. I wanted to surprise her. In the end, she surprised me!

I figured the easiest way to catch Melody unsuspectingly would be to guise my proposal in a treasure hunt for my little brother Joseph’s 8th birthday, only two days away. So a’ treasure hunting we all went—all of us. Joseph was excited—I was excited! And Melody didn’t suspect a thing! All of my family in Akron came out for the treasure hunt and Melody’s whole family came too, even my little brother Joseph’s friend Benjamin came.

Joseph's Team

We split up into teams and set out into the damp and shivery woods—a list of treasures to find in hand.

The List

It wasn’t too long before Melody and I were at the top of the hill “looking” for acorns for the treasure hunt. Kenan and Martin were somewhere down below circling through the woods like two lost soldiers (they wore camouflage for some reason). We walked around on the hill top chatting. Then Melody noticed my guitar lying at the base of a big tree. “Somebody left their guitar in the woods” she exclaimed! “I tricked you,” I said, “That’s my guitar and I’ve got a song for you…”

She Said Yes

After years of dreams, fervent prayers, late night conversations, joys, frustrations, breakthroughs, friendship, work, study, counsel, repentance, more work and more study and lots more prayer… finally it all boiled down to one simple question.

Last Friday, under a canopy of budding trees, I asked my best friend Melody Nicole to marry me. Even before I could finish the stanza in the song I sang her, Melody said, “Yes, yes, yes!” My face is permanently creased in smile of indescribable joy!

Proposal Point

Oh what a precious time we had together praising God and covenanting our lives to each other for marriage. There, on that cold wet moss of “Proposal Point,” Melody and I tied the knot. Now we are searching through the calendar trying to figure out when we can get married and put super-glue on this knot that our Father in Heaven has so graciously allowed us to tie!

True Lover's Knot

“And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:12 (ESV)

We’re Engaged!

Josiah and Melody

Melody's Wonderful Mom

“Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.”
- Proverbs 23:25 (ESV)

My Dear Mother

My Soon-to-be Father-in-law

My Hero - My Dad

What is Courtship?

I wrote an entry on courtship several months ago and thought it would be relevant to put a link to that entry here again.

A Special Thanks To…

A special thanks goes to all of the photographers at the park. You guys are the best!

Just a few of the happy photographers

Thank you Joseph for sharing your party with us. You are growing into a very fine young gentleman!

Joseph Turns Eight!

About the “Future” Banner

Bright Future Ahead

I’ll be honest, there is a little photo-shopping going on here. I took the original picture on one of the piers on Lake Erie. Elijah was with us too as you can see from the original picture below!

Over There

A special thanks goes to Jeff Meyers and his Passing the Baton newsletter for the clever “The Future” road sign picture.

A Tidbit from my Sister

Here is a great quote from my sister’s blog. I don’t think it ever crossed her mind that anyone would quote her, and that’s exactly why it’s so great.

I suppose accepting and doing the “little things in life” with joy and gladness is what the Christian life is all about.

I am away at college right now, and I havent posted anything since I came down here to Dallas in January. But I have had a good excuse for my silence; I’ve been studying like mad and enjoying it emensely! If you don’t know, I am at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL) working on an undergraduate certificate in applied linguistics. This school is amazing. It is small, intense, incredibly pratical, academically rigerous, and humbly submitted to God’s glory. The faculty and staff here are very personable and god-fearing and the students here are really encouraging and fun. Well, that’s enough of an update-attached-to-a-quote.

Veggie Tales Founder Said What?

A surprising quote from a world-renowned cartoon animator…

“The world doesn’t learn about God by watching Christian movies. The world learns about God by watching Christians.”

- Phillip Visher, Veggie Tales founder

What About Context?
To learn the context of this quote I encourage you to listen to Phil’s hard-hitting message that he delivered at the Moody Bible Institutes Founder’s Week, on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 10:30 am (clue, the quote is at min. 31:05).

Building Covered in Bubblegum!

GREENVILLE, OHIO – Heather, Melody and I stopped by the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop (125 N. Broadwat St.) on our way back home from the Homeschool Alumni get-together at Alyssa’s home.

Heather and Melody in Front of the Bubblegum Covered Convient Store

The building is literally COVERED IN BUBBLEGUM!

“Sounds gross, but that’s what people have been doing for years. So much so that the walls have taken on the look of a gum sculpture. No one is quite sure just how the custom started, but as they sang in Fiddler on the Roof, it’s “tradition.” Not only don’t they scrape it off, they seem to encourage it.” – Neil Zurcher

I learned about this bubblegum covered building in Neil Zurcher’s book, Ohio Oddities: A Guide to the Curious Attractions of the Buckeye State. You can find Neil’s book on Amazon.com. Neil stopped by our creation science museum this summer and wrote up a paragraph about the Akron Fossils & Science Center for his Ohio Oddities book (we are on page 65 under the title Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?). Neil also keeps a web blog at, One Tank Trips.

The Gummy Wall!

Of course we couldn’t resist depositing our own blob of bubblegum so we each vigorously chewed our frozen wads of bubblegum (now frozen from being left in cold car all weekend) and creatively pasted them onto the side of the building—next to the millions of other pieces!

It was amazing to see how long some of the bubblegum blobs had been on the building, presumably for years and years, maybe even decades. Lesson to the wise: “Don’t swallow your bubblegum; even the intense rays of the sun cannot deteriorate it!”

Melody and I Looking Peace-ful

Big Sis Enters Blogosphere

We are pleased to announce that our sister, Heather, has began blogging. Her website is called Joy in the Little Things. Here’s what Josiah and I have to say about our sister.

Stephen:

My sister Heather is like an ivy plant— beautiful, tender, resilient. She is the oldest child in our family, so she has been there since I was born. As I have grown up (for certain) and matured (hopefully), Heather has played an integral role in my life.

Heather is a dear friend. I don’t know how many long-into-the-night talks— deep talks, broad talks, jumping-from-subject-to-subject talks— we’ve had over the past few years. We’ve shared life, we’ve shared our hearts— our perplexities, our fears, our hopes, our dreams, our opinions, our one faith and shared vision.

Heather is an example. She is an example of meekness, of godliness, of a heart devoted to God. She has lived out this example, and she has reached out into my life. I still have notes, letters, and birthday cards that she given me… I probably have notes from my early teens to the present. These notes are deeply impressed with encouragement. Many a time, Heather has brought portions of the Scriptures to my attention, and she has done so with a gentleness and a humility that has burned deep into my soul.

Heather is a caring person. She helped care for me when I was young. And even now while I am yet living at home, she still looks out for me. She helps with our family’s laundry, she helps cook several times a week, she helps cleans the house (especially the overlooked things). She does so much, she is so much— much more than all of this.

Not that Heather doesn’t have struggles and weaknesses. This is what I so admire about Heather: she is very real, not a superwoman. But rather than trying to hide every weakness and sin, time and again I’ve seen Heather work to be transparent about her struggles. I can see God’s grace flowing in and over and through her life. I have seen that God’s grace has been sufficient for Heather, and this has encouraged me to continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to hold on to my faith in Christ.

Heather is like an ivy plant— beautiful, tender, resilient—and the tendrils of her love have reached deep into my heart.

Josiah:

I can attest to each of the same virtues and experiences that Stephen so poetically wrote about our sister Heather.

One godly character quality that I must say about Heather is her overflowing generosity. Heather’s generosity is demonstrated by her daily self-sacrifice to others. Heather has sacrificed her own desires to help her family members on numerous occasions, not only in the home but also in business ventures that continue on to this day. I couldn’t ask for a more devoted secretary.

I will never forget the generosity of my sister when she gave a little boy the last of her saved M&M’s when he had already gulped his own treat down many days before. I was that little boy and I (and many others) continue to experience the sweetness of Heather’s generosity on a daily basis.

Here’s a link to Heather’s blog: Joy in the Little Things

You will also find that we have added her blog to our Blogroll on the right.

To the Highways and Hedges: Part Two

—A Continuation of my Previous Story with Contributions from Matthew 22:11-14—

Reclining at the table, Becher looked about him, and couldn’t keep back a silly grin; there was so much splendor and joy in this house. Guests filled the large banquet hall, all wearing their finest wedding garments. Becher had no idea where the poor and crippled and blind and lame people were, the people that the messenger had told him had been invited. The one who had opened the door to them had returned to the head of the table. He was indeed the master, for he was the king. Becher was soon told that this was the wedding feast of the king’s son. As Becher looked about, he noticed that some attendants had now entered the hall, bringing more food. They were working their way around, serving the new guests.
Becher leaned back and greeted the man next to him, “Peace, brother!”
The man smiled, but looked a bit nervous. “That’s a fine robe you have on,” the man said.
“Yes,” Becher replied. “And you’ll never believe how I came by it.” Becher’s face was only sincere now. His eyes filled with awe; it was as if he was looking past or through the man next to him. “My family and I live to the east of the city,” began Becher. “When the messenger came, the sun had just slipped behind the hills, so we set out while the first stars were beginning to shine in the east.” Becher paused and followed the other man’s gaze up the table. The servants were a little nearer now, and the smell from the good food made Becher’s belly growl with hunger. “We were about halfway to the city gates,” Becher resumed, “when we passed through an evening shower. It was odd, because I hadn’t expected rain. The rain was warm, but the wind tugged at our cloaks and shawls. Away in the distance I thought I heard some thunder. Then the rain passed, and the new moon broke out of the clouds just above the mountains. And I looked down at my clothes, to see what the rain had done to me, but instead of my old rags, I saw this wonderful garment I now wear. These are wedding clothes, I said to myself.”

Sitting with the women, Becher’s wife leaned over to the woman she had just been talking to. “I don’t know what my husband is talking about,” she said with a perplexed look on her face. Both women looked over at Becher, who was busy telling his tale to the man next to him. “He keeps saying that we passed through a gentle shower on the way to this feast,” Becher’s wife continued. “A gentle shower! It was a thunderstorm. The thunder was so loud that I thought the very rocks were going to split in two! And the lightning came all around us, and the rain came in such torrents and the wind was so strong that it felt like my clothes had been ripped off and my skin was being pulled off my bones. It wasn’t just a little rain shower that we traveled through! But just like him,” her voice softened and a faraway look entered her eyes, “when the rain passed, I found that I was dressed in this marvelous wedding garment I am wearing.” She looked down at her dress and rubbed a fold of the fabric between her fingers.
“What about you?” she said, looking up at the woman next to her. “How did you come to this wedding feast?”
The other woman delicately wiped her fingers on a cloth, and straightened the little cluster of jewels that dangled on her brow. At the door, jewels had been given to all of the guests. The light glimmered and danced all around the room. Thoughtfully the woman finished chewing a morsel of fine food. She had already been at the table when Becher and his wife had arrived.
“The messenger,” the other woman said, “came to our door, and my father answered, for my husband went to sleep with his fathers two years ago, leaving me childless. My husband had no brothers,” she added almost as an afterthought. “My father was greatly interested in the messenger’s invitation, but seeing that we are very poor, he readily confessed that we had not the proper clothes for such a feast. ‘Worry not,’ the messenger said and then proceeded on his way. And then, you’ll never believe it, but as my father turned and shut the door, the tub that we use for bathing fell over in the back room where we keep it. Wary and half afraid, I peeked into the back room, and I saw that the tub now stood upright, filled with steaming water. Seeing it as a sign, my father quickly bathed, and he came back wearing a beautiful robe. That’s him up near the head of the table, the one with the long, white beard. My father was now eager to go to the feast, but my mother was very reluctant. My brother, God help him, scoffed at my father openly, and bustled out of the house to go… oh, but that’s beside the point! My mother stood firm, saying, “I have no need of a bath, and we are not beggars that we must rely on the charity of others, even if it is the king himself!” Caught in this mayhem, I went back and stepped into the tub. It was full— a thing we never do— and very warm. Oh, that water felt good! I scrubbed and soaked and it felt like it must have been hours, but father says I took only a few minutes. When I got out, a fine robe was laying there for me also. It wasn’t there when I got in the tub, for I remember wondering what I would wear once I got out. Still my mother would not come, so we left without her. Poor mother!” The woman paused for a moment, and then said, “Before we left our home, our maid came creeping out of that back room. She had also found wedding garments waiting for her when she stepped out of the tub, so my father couldn’t help but let her come with us.” A smile flashed across the woman’s face. “She is also sitting further up the table. There, she is picking up a fig right now!”

Becher watched intently while the attendant served him piles of wonderful things he had never seen or dreamt of eating. All of a sudden, the servant stopped, and glanced over his shoulder. The music paused, and then started up again a little softer. Becher looked up, and he saw that the king had begun to walk through the hall, greeting his beaming, grateful, and amazed guests. The servant waited to finish serving him, but Becher nibbled at the food already set before him. At last the master came to greet Becher. A profound sense that he had known him for ages swept over Becher. The master threw his arms around Becher, but all he could do was whisper, “Thank you!”
The king turned to greet the man beside Becher, and Becher saw that the king’s face suddenly clouded over. Sparks of fire seemed to leap from his eyes. “Friend,” the king said to him, “how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” Becher had not noticed before then, but it was true, the man next to him had no wedding garment. He wore a dirty shirt, stained and many times mended. Dread flooded the other man’s face, and he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”