Devotion

Yesterday our pastor had some words of wisdom about the importance of devotions. He was talking about how people think they need another cup of coffee on a bad morning, but he said, "Don't have another cup; have another psalm; have another devotion."

I highly recommend the Tabletalk devotional from Ligonier Ministries, which I've used for years with great profit. The only problem is the next month's issue arrives so early that I sometimes misplace it. That happened in January and I spent most of the month trying to find the "good place" where I'd put my January issue. I couldn't even remember receiving a January issue and when I realized that it was nearly the end of January and I hadn't received a February issue, I began to fear the unthinkable: I'd allowed my subscription to expire.

So I called Ligonier and found out that my subscription runs through 2008, and the helpful folks sent me my missing issues. They arrived the same day as my regular February issue. I guess I simply misplaced that illusive January issue.

In any case, I was finally able to use Tabletalk for my morning devotions today and the experience has greatly impressed upon me the importance of regular, personal devotions.

I was able to concentrate on the brief scripture, but as soon as I began to read the meditation, my mind was filled with distracting images of a sin from my long-buried past. As I began my regular practice of writing out my prayer, I felt as if I hardly knew how to think or pray. I realized how easy it is for me to become consumed with concern about my family or my work. My main problem this morning was my recurring feeling that I am just not doing enough in my efforts to write for the Lord. Suddenly I realized that this feeling might not spring so much from a godly desire to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, but rather might be yielding to the sin of feeling discontent and frustrated instead of resting and trusting in God.

But there was more to my struggle with sin this morning. As I realized how important times of regular devotion are, my thoughts were immediately directed toward another member of my family and my perception of the lack of devotion in that person's life. My thinking was so warped that I allowed the splinter in my loved one's eye to obscure the log in my own.

My personal devotions this morning opened my eyes to the reality of our struggle, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and the rulers of darkness in this present world.

In Memoriam

William Eric Mathes

November 15, 1973 – January 23, 2006

Dave's nephew, Will, was 32 years old when he passed away last night from leukodystrophy that had robbed him of his sight, his mind, and all normal functioning. It is a blessing to see him released from his very literal body of death.

He leaves behind a wife and preschool daughter, as well as his mother. His father died at age 33, when Will was six years old.

It's very, very sad.

"Love is the color of faith"

That is a quote from Rev. Patrick Edouard's excellent sermon yesterday on "Marks of a Growing Faith" based on Philippians 1:8-11. I was delighted to hear that the sermon was the first in a series on Philippians and I was even more delighted since the text contains verses that comprise part of my daily prayers for each of the members of my family:

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God."

That passage is packed with words and phrases that carry a lot of weight: love, abound, knowledge, depth of insight, discern, best, pure, blameless, day of Christ, filled, fruit of righteousness, through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

It would take too much time and become far too personal for me to unpack all of what those verses mean to me when I pray for my family.

Although I have never found it possible to pinpoint only one or two scripture passages as my favorite since I love so many, those verses are certainly among my favorites.

And Philippians is certainly one of my favorite books of the Bible. Joy permeates it, forming a solid foundation and bubbling to the surface in Paul's effervescent remarks, such as the fourth verse of the fourth chapter: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice."

Translating Romans

We had another two great sermons yesterday; the evening sermon with a text from the final verses of Romans 8 was especially good. That beautiful doxology is one of the primary reasons why I chose Romans for my current Latin translation project.

Last night's sermon made me even more eager to reach chapter 8, but I've learned a great deal in only the first two chapters.

Translating is a wonderful way to examine the nuances of a scripture text. Even though my work is with the Vulgate, it has shown me how much can be learned through the careful examination necessary in translation.

And it has convinced more than ever of the necessity for requiring original language study as part of a seminary education.

Catching Up

It's been over two weeks since I posted and I haven't posted at all in 2006! Since I included my URL in our Christmas letter this year, I'm sure lots of friends and relatives are eagerly awaiting my next post. Well, maybe one or two have wondered if it was worth their time to visit.

The reason I haven't posted is that well-worn excuse: I've been busy.

We had some great family times over the holidays, and I was wise enough to schedule my course work with the holidays in mind. I finished my first advanced Latin course before Thanksgiving and finished both a writing course and a web course by mid-December.

Now I've begun my second Latin course, which is the final step in my BLS marathon, and will soon begin another web course. I can tell that I haven't done any serious Latin translation since before Thanksgiving. It's amazing how quickly things leak out of my sievelike mind.

This week I traveled by train to and from Chicago for editorial meetings at Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Those trips are always exhausting, but productive. It's good to be on site and discuss things in person.

Traveling by train allows me to do some work during the hours of travel and, this time of year, frees me from worry about driving in dangerous weather conditions.

The weather this week, however, has been wonderful! Yesterday afternoon the sun was shining in a clear sky and the temperature reached 56 degrees. Yes, folks, that's 56 degrees in Iowa on Janury 12!

There is undoubtedly a whole lot of winter still ahead, but every day like yesterday is one less day of it.