Rev. Richard Dow
Thank you, John (Gatz) for your introduction. Concerning your comments about my college
career here at Augustana and my singing in Handel's Messiah, the oratorio, which I believe was
performed the first week in December, lasted approximately two and a half hours, which is about the
length of my unedited talk. But, I understand that we have some time constraints today. I can see Ellie
(Henning) sitting in the back (monitoring the time), so we will have to move at a very brisk pace.
As John indicated, when I was asked to give this talk, it was because people had a sense that I
was using some very unusual resources in pulling together rollos, sermons, and other talks, and the
thought about that was that if I can pull together all of these really strange and unusual resources, I must
know something about Christian study. So we shall see!
One of the things I'd like to begin with is to read something from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah sees
life with God as a banquet, at least in 2nd Isaiah: a heavenly banquet. At this banquet, the prophet says
that "On this mountain where God is, Yahweh will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food - a
banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy of fine spring wines. On this mountain, He will remove the
mourning veil covering all people...He will swallow up death forever." Isaiah 25.
Now, if I could convince one person that was heretofore unconvinced that Christian study was
taking the shrouds off of devotional literature, off of Holy Scripture, and making that study a joy and an
adventure, I would have done my job by Isaiah. As God establishes His messianic kingdom in our midst,
the world He created and redeemed will once again be the wondrous place that God made it to be. Our
study reinforces that promise and makes it true for us in our situation: in our life and in our world. Now,
we might not see that world before us as a banquet, but God says, "Yes it is!... that, and more, everyday!"
Christian study is a way - a very good way - to remove the shroud from religious works and words and
see them come alive as a feast for us. Let's try that idea out today and see how it works.
My friend, Beth Ann, is a vice-president of a big company in Dallas, and she's responsible for a
staff that writes technical training manuals and then she teaches them to the employees of the company.
She sometimes contracts out to do that for other companies. She is a very proficient writer; that's what
she does for a living. But in her heart she is a writer who is very committed to romantic literature and
writing Christ- centered fiction. She writes novels, screenplays, short stories, plays - all sorts of things.
That's where she really " lives" as an author. But she has not yet been widely published. You may
know, as most authors do, that unsolicited manuscripts are not very popular in publishers' offices, and
knowing that, my friend decided that a good way to get published was to delve into an area that is a
growth industry in publishing, the romance novel. I listened to my friend talk about this and I said,
"You're going to write a romance novel?" I was astonished!
She replied, "Yes; if I can get published this way, so be it." She started out by reading all the
romance novels she possibly could. Her friends gave her more. She read all these and analyzed them
page by page. She discovered that every single romance novel follows the same formula. For instance,
on page 86 of single novel, the heroine goes forth from her new husband's ancestral castle and has an
encounter in the family graveyard. The heroine hears a noise and turns. Her gown billows. In every
single romance novel, her gown unfailingly billows(!). And when she turns, she meets not any monster
of the forest but the old family retainer, who takes upon himself to reveal many esoteric family secrets to
her. This gets the plot underway.
Later on page 150 (always on page 150!), some other secret emerges, and then on page 280 some
other plot development happens, just the same way in every single novel. My friend, having done this
careful analysis, was now ready to write her own romance novel. She offered it to me to read, and it's
my considered opinion that it's a contender for publishing, but that hasn't happened yet. I told my friend
that her novel wasn't really a romance at all, but a very tightly packed working out of Christian themes in
a romance novel setting. That may keep it from being published, unfortunately.
When she was reading all these novels, she found a subplot that she liked and phoned me to
relate it to me. She told me that she thought the subplot and its story belonged in one of my rollos. As I
tell it to you, see what you think: see what you find of Jesus Christ in this story.
"Once upon a time, there was a kingdom and a king. The king was old and infirm, but sound in
mind and spirit. His relatives were rounders all!, ne'er do wells, who would take over the kingdom in a
minute and sap it of all its strength for their own personal satisfaction. So the king knew what he had to
do. He mounted his horse and toured the entire kingdom, looking for a young man of strong body and
fine character, one who could defend the kingdom when the king was gone. He rode for three days,
constantly searching. He finally found the person that he was looking for. At a glance, he could tell that
this young man, emerging from the blacksmith shop and covered with soot, was of noble character. The
king could tell that this young man would know when to advance in battle, and when to retreat to protect
his troops. The king could tell that this young man had spiritual depth and great integrity. So, the king
offered the young man the kingdom, saying, "I need you to be my warrior in battle, my representative on
the battlefield. I know that you are strong and brave. Your allegiance is unquestioned. All you need do
is accept my offer."
The young man said, "No. I cannot take these things, to which I have no natural right. I cannot
take such things for free." The young man's pride was offended. So the king thought quickly, in order
not to lose this young man. The king then restated his case. "I will give you a castle, knights, armor,
farms to support the castle, servants, gold, everything you need to defend this kingdom in battle. All you
have to do is say, "Yes, and do your duty for your king."
The young man changed his mind, and agreed, but under one condition. He said, "This you must
do, my king. For everything I get from you, castles, servants, gold, knights, all the rest, you must issue
me an IOU, and I will pay you back."
When the young man, now a warrior, was ready to go out into battle for the first time, the king,
whose affection and respect for the young warrior had grown to a fatherly love, wanted to give the young
man a gift to cement the bond between them. So he asked skilled artisans to make a miniature, palm-sized replica of the young warrior's castle, complete with turrets and windows, done in silver and
studded with precious stones. The king presented this miniature work of art to the young man. The king
then said, "Take this into battle with you. Let it remind you of the confidence and trust that I have placed
in you. I love you with a father's love." The old king choked back the last word he spoke, so that the
young warrior did not quite hear it. It was just as well this way, the king knew, because the tender word
would have offended the young warrior's pride.
Through the years, there were more battles to fight, more victories to be won, and indeed, they
were won. The young warrior proved himself in battle time and again. He finally married. He had two
sons. Both warrior and king aged, weakened, and finally, both king and warrior died. The only things
remaining now were the strengthened kingdom, the king's troublesome family, and - yes - the IOU's.
The ne-er-do-well relatives of the king gathered at the castle. They demanded everything, just as
the warrior's family knew they would. The king's relatives knew about the IOU's. One of the warrior's
sons said to the other, "We've got to find the IOU's and save the kingdom." So, they searched the castle
from top to bottom. Every farm, every castle passageway and stick of furniture: they searched high and
low, and came up with nothing. No IOU's.
Finally, despondent, they gathered again in the old warrior's bedroom. One son, leaning against
the fireplace, was racking his mind for one last place to look. His eye was caught by the miniature castle,
the gift from long ago, which now rested on the warrior's mantelpiece. The son took it in his hands,
turned it over and over, and chanced to press one of the precious stones. It activated a hidden spring, and
one side of the castle popped open. Inside there were, in a tight bundle, all of the IOU's that the King
held against his beloved warrior. The warrior's pride had prevented the king from canceling them out, so
the king had found another way to do so. He had given them as a gift. There was, in the tightly bound
bundle, a note from the dead king.
"This," the king wrote, "was the only way my love could overcome your pride. I hope you can
now understand. As you read, know this. I have always loved you."
Now the King's secret forgiving of all the warrior's debts had become the very freedom and the
kingdom itself, which they had all fought so hard for. The gift of freedom and the kingdom itself was
there, in that tight bundle, and in the forgiving, in the love. Pride almost ruined the gift. But the free and
precious gift of forgiveness was discovered in time and the kingdom became once again a place of
rejoicing and freedom and peace.
Where do you see Christ in this story? In the forgiving of debts? That sounds like the Lord's
Prayer. Or, do you see Christ in how the destructive power of pride is broken by the power of love?
How about the healing gift of the castle? What do you make of that? Here is a kingdom in miniature,
filled with debts forgiven and a personal inscription of love. The Christ is in the gift of the castle, isn't
he? And as you discern this point, the process of Christian Study becomes more than an assembly of
facts or the reinforcement of feelings. Study now becomes the way that you use your cognitive powers to
see Jesus Christ at work in the world. This is study as a process.
Study means looking at the world through Christian glasses, if you will, as a place where the
Holy Spirit is at work creating faith at that famous table made by the Father and presided over by His
Son. Here is some fine advice that Jesus gave his disciples about living in the world in John 15. He
knows that soon he will no longer by physically present to guide his disciples. Absent from sight after
his Ascension, he will guide them still. He says that when the Holy Spirit comes, "whom I shall send you
from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, He will be witness and you too will be my
witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset." Jesus might have continued, "You have
studied with me and you will be my witnesses to my love in the world."
Before we can know what Jesus is like at all, we have to look in the Holy Scriptures. That is the
basis of Christian study. We have to know it like our own families (We find a portion of our families in
Scripture, do we not?).
Now, if I could think of objections to what I just said, I think the strongest one would be very
powerful. It would sound something like, "Why would you want to look at this world to find Jesus Christ
at all?" When at times this world is profane, discouraging, and sapping of our spiritual strength, why
would we look there for Jesus?
Well, one good reason is that Jesus told us to. Matthew's gospel has some good things to say
about this. One of the last words that Jesus Christ gave to His disciples was the world "Go," not "stay."
Not, "Look inward," not "avoid," but "GO." "Find me the world," Jesus says, "and share me with those
who are there." Study is knowing Scripture well enough... to see Christ in the world as we go and
witness.
Now, I have a great deal of material here about Matthew and what he does in his gospel
pertaining to Study. I'm going to boil it down for you because of our time constraints. What I see in
Matthew's gospel is that he separates the Church from the world, and he does so for a reason. Here is a
well-known saying from Matthew: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst
of them." Be careful with that verse! It tells you all you have to know, but only if you know how
Matthew says it. As an illustration, I remember in the '60's and early '70's, when I was attending
Augustana. What that verse seemed to mean to us - because we wanted it to - was that you could be very
casual about getting together in groups of two or three and call yourself the church. If the institutional
church with its banners and chalices and complicated forms was a little too heavy for you, then here was
an alternative. Or so it seemed... so we thought. Along the same ling of thought, concentrated Bible
study was not necessary. Christians could concentrate on what it felt like to be together, and that was
enough. But... what Matthew means is that we must maintain as Christ's gift, a disciplined, ordered
structure that Christ calls the church. Study of the Word of God is certainly when two or three are
gathered in his name. But in that study, in the ordered community and ordered intellectual community
that arises out of it, is Jesus Christ and the knowing of Him.
How did Jesus teach? He used parables. He used stories; most of them about the simple
components of life around him, and what they meant. Some of these stories were about conflict
appearing in front of a judge, or about a father fighting with and losing a son...temporarily. There was a
story about a widow losing one of her sons, and more. None of those stories were very "religious" per
se, except when the religious people in the stories were exposed as not being terribly faithful. After all
was said and done in the stories of Jesus, the simple people were raised up as being the faithful ones.
And in those stories Jesus is making a point for us. We meet Jesus now in the things that he reveals to us
about our lives. We meet a living Jesus in the stories he told us during his earthly ministry, and the
framework of those stories tells us that we will continue to meet him in the simple events of the world we
know now. Study of Jesus' earthly ministry takes us naturally into the search for him in our own world,
just as Jesus always intended. Our study gives us a reason to look at the world. We are looking for our
Lord there, in the best reading, in the best films, the best music, and in the stories of our own lives. Bible
Study gives us a firm foundation for seeking our living Lord in all parts of God's present creation.
Now I want to give a brief outline - four points for Christian study:
(1) Continually discovering who Christ is. That is our business - what the Bible is for.
(2) Discerning what your mission is. As you study, you will be called, and we need to be about
the process of determining what that call is. What is our mission?
(3) Making the Word our own, proclaimed to others. How does it sound when we hear it, and
how does it sound when we say it? Making the word our own; then proclaiming it to others.
(4) Seeing Christ in the culture you live, because He is there. As we said, Matthew 28 contains Jesus' last words to the Christian community before his Ascension, and they are poignant
ones. But they are direct! Jesus says, "Go!" So we need to know how to see Christ not in his
physical body but in the culture we live in, where he commanded us to "Go." Those of you
who've asked that question on your own know that it's not an easy one.
Good luck, you say, in your search for Jesus in our culture. This is not easy territory in which to
search for the holy. And who is this Jesus we are looking for? Is Jesus the kind, gentle counselor who
slowly, slowly pries the woman at the well away from the lies she tells about her life? Is the Jesus we are
seeking the one who gets her to see him in this gentle way, or is Christ the thundering prophet who tells
the disciples that he has come with the sword to divide families and establish His Kingdom? Is Jesus the
one who declares that he has no place to lay his head or is he the one who blesses a wedding reception,
allows his feet to be anointed with oil and eats and drinks with sinners? Who is Jesus Christ? How will
the disciples know him, once they can no longer see his physical body. Once again, the word is "study."
To find our what's working among the people whom I serve, I asked them to complete a survey.
I wanted to know what they were doing about the study of the Word, and of Jesus. Surveys came back; I
found some interesting results. First of all, I noticed something that I imagined I already knew. But now
I saw it on paper.
Many people who responded to the survey have elected a kind of continuing "shorthand" route
for study. No scripture reading or reflection, but instead a daily reading from something titled, "God
Calling." Evidently, the way this book came about was from the collaboration of two women who prayed
together and then, oracle-style - wrote a revelation for each day of the year. I have to admit, each day's
revelation does bear a certain pertinence to one's Christian life, and I like that pertinence. But, you know
what? It's not the same thing as reading scripture and meeting Jesus for yourself there.
What I'm recommending to you as leaders of this movement is not to let this kind of devotional
literature emerge as an acceptable substitute for studying the Word of God. Be careful. Be disciplined.
Start your study with the Word. Enough directives! Back to the survey.
Other people who responded were reading books about pain and suffering. We live in what we
call "Baptist country," and many of those books on the survey responses were generated by Baptist
theology. Their message seemed to be, collectively, that if you have faith, your suffering will go away.
That is what our people are reading. We could perhaps do better.
Featured prominently on the survey list of reading was also a book called My Utmost For His
Highest, by Oswald Chambers, which is a classic devotional work. Scripture, meditation, prayer for
every single day are included. It is absolutely peerless, a good model for anything else you might wish to
use for devotional literature. Incidentally, men, I've discovered, like to get up early, do some kind of
physical activity, then read the Bible and pray. Women do their devotionals at all sorts of different times.
Either way...good play.
Another item on the survey came, signed, from a woman whom I greatly respect. She said,
"When I'm in trouble, I go straight to Scripture, and I go back to devotional reading like mad. But then,
when things get better, I drop it and I don't go back again until I get into trouble again."
Now that you have a sense of what I picked up from that informal survey, let me put out question
before us again: "Can we urge our people to start their devotional time with study of scripture; consistent
reading of the Word of God, no substitutes? How can we make that clear? Study the Word with others.
Or, you may have the kind of personality that requires that you study alone. Great! Force the issue and
involve yourself in group study. Remember that where two or three are gathered, Jesus appears, right?
You may have the kind of personality that loves group study because you like to socialize. Okay.
Force yourself into private devotional study to balance that out. Keep both sides active and vital. A
balanced approach assures that we will discover more about Christ and, simultaneously, more about
ourselves and others. I want to remind you that in Jesus' time, study in the synagogue a quorum of
people were required to be present for study to take place. The Jews of Jesus' time respected the
dynamics of group study. When Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night and that
conversation was supposed to be secret, Jesus soon turned the event into group study. And what was it
about? Baptism. Baptism is the grace that begins a life of study. We've come full circle, seeking and
finding a principle for study and knowing our Lord: find a congregational or even an independent Bible
study group immediately after your weekend. Give those you sponsor a list of what's available. Know
what's out there and promote it. Encourage in yourself and others a baptismally based, Word-centered
and balanced study of our Lord in scripture.
I know what happens in a small group because I've been a member of several. We glide over the
section about study because, we'll say, this week we really need to spend all of our time talking about
feelings, or a special event, or something else that seems more pertinent. It's pretty embarrassing to say
that so the group members just laugh about it. Pretty soon, there's a tacit agreement that we don't talk
about study at all. Instead, force it, press it, don't let it go. Make it a part of small group. Don't let a
week go by without Bible Study.
We've talked a little in a general way about the dynamics that happen when we study the Word
together to see Jesus in our midst and know him better. I'd now like to show you something that will
help us visualize better those dynamics. It's called the Jo-Hari window. It was designed by two guys
named (yes) Joe and Harry. Divided into four equal parts, the square Jo-Hari window is very instructive
about how - among other things - good Bible Study happens.
Draw a perfect square with four equal squares within it.
In the lower right section is what we know about ourselves. Label that area "known to self."
Stuff like, "When I was a small child I went to Grandma's funeral and I touched him and nobody knew."
"When I was in sixth grade, I kissed a girl at the dance and my parents never knew." This square
contains things that are known only to us.
In the lower left-hand corner or box is what others know about us, but we can't see. Things like,
"this person really needs a new pair of glasses," or "my friend talks too much about her kids," or "my
boss is a really neat person but doesn't know it." The more we become aware of what is in this second
box, the healthier we become. We call this box, "Known To Others."
The Upper right hand section is the stuff that you know AND others know about you. You take
your dog for a walk after the news. You have a bald spot. You talk like a Midwesterner or a Southerner
or something. What is in this box relates to what it means to live in community. The more this box's
contents grow, the more in Christ you are. You risk yourself to know others and they risk themselves to
know you.
That leaves one more box. Upper left hand corner. This is the stuff about you that neither you
nor anyone else (except God) knows about you. Stuff like, "you have the faith to survive the death of a
loved one and start a new life." Or, "you have the faith to lose your job and get another one and see the
hand of God in that movement in your life." These are things that you did not know that you could do.
But God knows. Part of our life in Christ is to advance into this unknown section, day by day.
What the Jo-Hari window communicates to us is that in group Bible study (and to a certain
extent, private devotionals, too) you will be moved by the hand of God into this unknown area with other
people around you. Christ is already in that unknown area. He will show you, through your study of
scripture, that his promises are not just in a book. They are ready for you in the world - secular,
mundane, and real - that you live in. In Via de Cristo, we call this movement into the world living your
fourth day.
One of the main things I wanted to say to you is that I strongly believe that Christ is waiting for
us to "go" into our world and discover him. With your kind attention, I think we've made that point.
Now, let's talk about some good Bible Studies.
CROSSROADS - Dr. Harry Wendt is the author, a Lutheran pastor from Australia who's developed this
study for over 20 years. I've been teaching it for a long time. If you teach it a certain way, it's a
wonderful group-building experience and works like a charm to do the things we've described by talking
about the Jo-Hari window. Every single thing, nearly every detail of the Bible, comes together in this
study under the "umbrella" of the concept of God's free and unconditional covenant that He makes with
us - first through Abraham and finally through Jesus Christ. You see that covenant being restated or re-made all through Scripture. It's like sewing a thread through the entire bible and the end of a two year
period of study you pull the thread tight and everything comes together.
BIBLE STUDY FELLOWSHIP - this is a non-denominational course taking three to seven years to
complete - no kidding! It is incredibly thorough. It is structured so that a participant can jump in at any
point and keep going until they reach completion. Men and women go to separate classes. This course
requires high discipline on the part of the participants. It is extremely interactive. There is homework
every week - Bible readings to complete every single day. The international headquarters for this
movement is in San Antonio, Texas. If you would like to talk to me about it, I think I have the address
with me at this conference.
SEARCH - a comprehensive Lutheran Bible Study. One of my members remarked, "As long as you're
doing a Bible Study survey, pastor, why don't you throw in "Word and Witness?" I don't even know if
they're still publishing that one, but it made an incredible mark on those who took it. The reason for that
was that you not only studied the Bible, but read other literature about the Bible, some of it devotional,
some of it analytical or technical, and then you acted on what you'd read. (But that's a subject for the
next talk!)
SERENDIPITY - the emphasis here is on small group formation and interaction. Each group lasts about
six weeks at a time and involves about twelve people through study of the Bible and intensive personal
interaction. You achieve a stronger identity as a witness and a disciple. You get to know a Christian
support group that would literally support you in any way humanly possible. The Serendipity Bible
contains a running commentary of questions on sections of Scripture, addressing three levels of intensity
of sharing. Other subject-specific Bible studies are available from Serendipity publishing.
VICTORY BIBLE STUDY - individual, but useful in group settings. Tim Johnson knows about this one,
, and I'll bring him up (on the dais) in a moment to speak.
But first we'll go on to the next part of our outline.
Discerning what our mission is.
It is the life and work of every Christian person. It is summarized in the last thing Jesus said to
his disciples, and which we've dealt with before this morning. Let's read those words directly from
scripture. "Meanwhile, the eleven disciples set out for Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had arranged
to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up to
them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach
them to observe all the commands I gave you and know that I am with you always, yet the end of time."
(Jerusalem Bible).
Our calling is to go to the world as Jesus did and to baptize, teach, and know he is with us.
Before I bring Tim Johnson up to talk to us about these things, I would like to tell you a story.
On the Fourth of July, my mother called me from her home in Phoenix to tell me a joke. When my
mother tells me a joke, it's either excellent or very strange. You be the judge.
Some nuns lived together in the mother house. The Mother Superior of this community was
deeply respected and loved. The only problem in this wonderful community was that the Mother
Superior was dying. All of the nuns loved her, and sought ways to make her transition into the
next life more
comfortable. So, they searched for ever more caring ways to serve her. Finally, they understood
that her biggest need was to find a way to sleep at night. One of the nuns warmed some milk for her
to drink before sleeping. That helped. But it didn't cure the problem. Another nun hit upon the
idea that adding some whiskey in her milk might work better. It did.
Every night, the Mother Superior got her high-octane glass of milk, and slept well. She was confident that she was surrounded by the love of Christ in her nuns. But they were not so
confident. They wanted to know if what they had done had made any mark. When the priest came
to administer the last rites, the nuns besieged him with questions. They wanted to know if she had
said anything about their kindnesses.
The priest said, "She didn't mention anyone by name, but she said something about you as a
group." "What?!?"
She said, "When I'm gone, tell the sisters to take care of that cow!"
The moral of the story is that the cow is our study, and there are two parts to it. It will leave it to
you to decide which is which; one part is whiskey and one part is milk. But together they must be
personal and group Bible study.
We are privileged to have Tim Johnson speak to us now about the last facet of this talk, personal
Bible Study.
Tim Johnson
I would like to share with you a little bit on how I got into study, and how it's affected my life. It
really did happen on my weekend. You mentioned the Victory Bible Study series and that was given to
us. I was on weekend #6 in North Texas in November 1987. One of the things in my palanca was the
Victory Bible Study series.
I was born and raised Lutheran, and I'm Lutheran from the top of my head to the tips of my toes,
but the weekend was very opening experience for me. It changed me from all the head knowledge that I
got and all the intellectual stuff that I love to do (still love to do) about my own faith and religion in
general, and it really brought Christ into my heart. The Victory Bible Study series was given to us and
we were exhorted in the Study roll, and I took that very seriously. I don't know whether you use it or
not, but it's a very small book, and you go through the entire Bible in a year. It's a reading from the
Psalms, the Old Testament and the New Testament for every day of the year. I did that very faithfully. I
missed a few days in the year.
The next year, I was all through, so I looked around and there was no other tool that I was aware
of that I was comfortable with. So, I did it again. The second year, this time exactly the same thing.
Each time I did that , though, I got something out of the Scripture that I read each day and spent time in
dedicated study time. Then I look for some other resources. Rich has given you a very good list. I'm
going to discuss a few other resources that I have used over the past few years. In our church, we came
up with New Ventures. There are two divisions - divisions one and two. We went through division one -
a similar kind of program where you go through the entire Bible in a year. You meet with a group from
your church. That was introduced by John Manrodt, who was our associate pastor at that time.
We went through that and did that for two years, because again there wasn't another new course
of Bible Study readily available. So this is going to be year four now. Then the next year we did New
Ventures 2. And then the last two years ago, a friend of mine in fact, Barney Boeder, our lay director,
and a very good friend of mine gave me a book Drawing Near by John F. MacArthur, Jr. It's a little bit
shorter for each day. But I did that diligently for a year. Now this year in the back of that book is going
through the Bible in a year with John MacArthur's calendar, and that's what I'm doing right now.
I have found such joy and peace from learning that discipline. Not it's not really a discipline
anymore. It's an action that I enjoy. When I go to Bible study, I don't enjoy, so I don't miss very many
days anymore. The Lord speaks to me each day through the events that occur in my life. The books that
you're talking about reading, that are important are neat, and I do some of that reading. One of my
favorites, a book I just read The Celestine Prophecy. Now it's not necessarily a Christian book, but it is
rooted in spiritual discipline, and it searches for how the Lord works in us individually. One of the
things I got out of that book is: "There are no coincidences." Everything that happens to you, happens
for a reason, and if you have turned your heart to the Lord, you're committed to walk in His way, He will
guide you. Now, what He guides you to may not be what you want that day. Sometimes for a long
period of time it may not be what you want, or what you think you should have, but I guarantee you the
Lord's hand is there, and He will work with you.
I want to read a passage from Isaiah. Isaiah is one of my favorite Bible writers, because having
been born a Lutheran, "THE MESSIAH" is an integral part of my Christmas worship, and that was a
great thrill for me. Most of the Libretto comes from Isaiah. Ever since I've been in college any time I
read any of the Libretto from "The Messiah" I feel the music along with it.
I was reading the other day from MacArthur's study guide, which put me in Isaiah 40. Because
I'm trying to put together a business project that has taken an awful long time and has been very painful
and expensive experience for me, so I was reading in Isaiah 40 the last three verses (verses 29-31). He
gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. After having struggled with
this for a long time, I felt pretty faint. Even youth shall faint and grow weary, and young men shall fall
exhausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
like eagles. They shall rum and shall not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Of course, when you
hear that, Schuler has that in some of his stuff, and I've heard that before, but that day those words just
made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I knew that the Lord was speaking to me. That happens
a lot - not that that's such a marvelous thing.
I'm sure that for those you that are farther along in your spiritual walk than I am, you've
probably sensed the Lord's presence more often than I do. I've found over the years, as I've continued
that discipline of study, that more and more and more I do sense the presence of the Lord in my life, and
it usually is in private study. In the group study, for some reason, very rarely do I have that experience.
Maybe in the group that's not what's supposed to happen. I don't know. I do have a great deal of
comfort and joy and strength and faith of Christ's presence in my life. Primarily as the result of study
primarily because it started with what I was doing encouraging us to accept the discipline of study
beginning with the New Venture Bible study series.
One more thing, study is the switch through which piety and action flow, Macarthur's workbook
is not only an instrument of study. It has - when Peter talked the other night about balance, it really
struck me because piety, study, and action must go together, we can't have really any one of them
without the other two. They interact and intertwine so much so that that really made a lot of sense to me.
I, too really like the green card. Of course, in Texas that has special meaning for us. We're going to use
that this was given to me by a man in our small group who is not from Cursillo but our pastor asked if he
could join us He is a very successful businessman and he had been in the federal penitentiary for fraud
having to do with a car dealer. In prison, he had been raised as a Lutheran, he found Christ. He is now
working in Colson's prison ministry. He is going to be hired as a full-time worker for them. He gave me
this Spiritual Warfare prayer. I do my daily study in the morning, but sometimes before I go to work
since I'm working at home it is much easier to do this. The first thing I do is I read this prayer out loud -
that is very, very important, because the words are very powerful. The other thing about it, when I first
read it, I got excited because I said, "This is good theology." I'm sure it wasn't written by Lutherans.
The intellectual part of me got real excited. He this is good Lutheran theology, so I can pray this with
feeling. I'm going to highlight for you that really touched me. I promise you. I'm going to challenge
you. Take this home. Now, I'm not going to say that you have to do this for the rest of your life. I'm
going to do it because I've been doing it now for a year and a half. Read this prayer out loud every day
for about three weeks, and see if it doesn't make a difference in life. It will take about twelve minutes to
read.
The way it begins: "Heavenly Father, I humble myself in worship before you. To your Holy
Name be glory, honor, and praise forever. You are worthy of my adoration, devotion, and thanksgiving.
I commit myself to love you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength - including my energy output and
all my best efforts. I submit myself to you and to all you put in authority over me. I yield my money, sex,
and power to you." That was scary. Wow! I'm even yielding my sex to the Lord. That's kind of a
strange concept for me. But that has changed my life. We don't talk about that very much, but that's a
life I struggle with a thorn in the flesh. I wasn't a philanderer, but I had lots of thoughts in my head about
other people, that bothered me and I couldn't get rid of it. When I started praying this prayer. In about
two months those are gone and they have not returned.
"I confess that He has come to flesh and is wholly God and wholly man. I claim the power of His
intercession for me and for all His people. I receive the power of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ at Pentecost. For this day, I also appropriate the fullness of the
Holy Spirit in my life. I claim all the power of the Sanctifying Lord within me." You see those kinds of
words aren't normally the way Lutherans pray. That's the way Baptists pray: "Claim it." Even so, it
still can be good Lutheran theology. It's really kind of neat to make a positive affirming and claiming
statement in our prayers. "I claim the mind of Christ. I take captive of every thought to make it obedient
to Christ. With sound judgment I refuse to take up an offense for those who disobey your will as
revealed in your written word or to defend them in any way. I ask for your insight to restore gently
someone caught in a sin. And here in a small group where you have the truth sometimes we talk about
somebody here.
This morning we were talking about what happens. What is meaningful in your reunion group
sometimes we are called to do that, but that's very scary. I have a dear friend in my life who when I first
read that prayer had become aware of some situations going on that really tugged at me - was very hard
for me. It took me several months, but I finally had the opportunity and the strength of love to confront
and share with him what my feelings about it. I didn't judge because its not my place to do that. But I
did call upon Him in the name of the Holy Spirit as to what was going on - something that was bothering
me and I thought a lot of other people too. It took a lot of courage for me to do that and I know he knows
in love but the other good thing about it. Now it's between him and the Lord and it's not my problem
anymore. I don't carry around worrying about that. But I had to do that . I had to encourage him to
make that step the second he acknowledged that obedience to Christ was paramount to healing. That's
right out of Galatians and Paul's writings.
I love to read that especially the last two paragraphs because these words are especially neat. "In
obedience to the command of your word, I commit myself to the strong in the Lord and His might power.
Thank you for the full armor of God that you provide. Right now I put on the belt of truth, the
breastplate of righteousness and the boots of readiness that come from the gospel of peace. I hold up the
shield of faith that extinguishes all the flaming arrows of the evil one. I put on the helmet of salvation. I
grasp the sword of the spirit, the word of God training me to use it with supernatural ability stimulated to
pray all occasions and all kinds of prayers and requests. Thank you Lord Jesus for loving me and laying
down your life for me. Open my eyes today for the opportunities to love others and to lay down my life
for them. Grant me opportunities to use the spiritual gifts that you have given me in a spirit of humility,
joy, and service. Help me to take my focus off myself and to fix my eyes on Jesus Christ and on those
you want me to love and serve. I enter this day with thanksgiving and praise. Open my eyes to what you
are doing. Holy Father and allow me to be used in the Holy Spirit of part of it. I pray in the confidence
of the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ who is able to keep me from falling and to present me
before your glorious presence without fault and with great joy. Amen."
Rev. Richard Dow
So what I am going to do is close my notes to make some very brief comments and then we will
break.
First of all, I think you may have guessed where I live spiritually and intellectually is being able
to study the Bible and take it into the arena of movies, literature, music, and so on, and know what I'm
listening to and what the message is that I am getting and either be able to appreciate it, or kind of let it
dangle out there because it doesn't really have anything to do with Jesus and just appreciate it for its
beauty and that's what its got. The bibliography that I have given you is a primer for that. There's a lot
of stuff in there from Frederick ....., who is an author that I am very partial to .... one thing by Joseph
Sibler. You might think, "Oh no, a theologian - too hard to read" but it's a collection of his talks and
reminiscences. The part about Ziegfield Follies and his mother's Sunday School pageant is not to be
missed, if you read it. What else was in there?
...... and his stuff about Joshua and Joshua and the Children. The story of Jesus set in very
contemporary setting. Good stuff. Walter ........ Richard Foster and the Celebration of Discipline
belongs in there, but it isn't in there.
Two books that I have recently found that I threw in at the last minute - one called Listening for
God, which is really a paperback - a very tiny textbook - a collection of short stories - some by expressly
Christian authors like Flannery O'Connor; some not Christian, but commenting on our Christian world
like Alice ........ The book is set up like this. There is an essay in the beginning about the Bible as
literature and Jesus parables and how the parables are really very worldly stories, but we know that they
were true, because they were told by Jesus and now that we know that. What other stories could we look
at about our world - knowing what we do about the Bible to see Christ in them in us and in our world. So
we got Flannery O'Connor, we got Alice Baldwin. We got two stories by Garrison Keilor, there's an
essay before each story about the author and the story. There's the story itself, and then there's study
questions, and I think there's also a video that comes with it for teaching and it looks like an excellent
resource. Something I picked up virtually at the last minute was something called ...... Biblical stories by
Bernard Scott. What he does is to take apart movies like "Home Alone," look at them for the cultural
bits that they are this time about ...... fifty moms and dads. You know kids get lost between the cracks
and look at how popular a movie like that can be and why we need to look at those myths in the darkness
of the movie theater and look at ourselves and then he looks at the Bible and says, "Well, if those are the
myths we're looking at - kind of throwing around about ourselves. What would the Christmas story have
to do with that? How would that work out? Very interesting book - very scholarly. Some other stuff on
there you might want to read. The list is so long that I made for this mine personally because that's the
only way I find accurate.
Let's close by remembering where we started. The king, the kingdom, and the castle, and being
able to see the love of Christ in our romance novel. Not always. But, if you are prepared, if you are
steeped in the Word, if you know Christ and will allow him to show you others and show you different
parts about yourself through study. Then, yes, sometimes, yes, the wealth of Jesus Christ, his love, and
that banquet table set with many good things is out there. Thanks!
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