World Cups and Kotlovina

The 2014 World Cup kicked off this Thursday with a rousing and questionably refereed game between Croatia and Brazil. In our house, and in our church, too, come to think of it, the World Cup ushers in about a month of excited conversation, sporadic shouts of glee or frustration, and general Football craze. It is all very lively and lovely indeed, and to make certain I do not completely abandon the sporting festivities, the Raimundo household began a fun little tradition last World Cup of following the Football schedule as our eating plan. I get to cook the foods of the countries playing any given day, we get a little geographical, gastronomical, and cultural education, and everyone gets to enjoy the World Cup as a family. Splendid solution, do you not agree?

Kotlovina

We decided to cook Croatian for the first game, and after some internet browsing and cookbook searching, I decided to try my hand at Kotlovina, a dish named for the pot-pan-spidergrillthing in which it is traditionally prepared. When Wikipedia (oh, my Wiki!) described Kotlovina as a pork knuckle stew, there was no doubt as to what we were eating Thursday night.

Kotlovina it was. But I would need pork for this meal, specifically joints, bones, chops, and sausage (I ended up nixing the sausage). Alas, the Raimundos are currently awaiting the arrival of our next half-pig from Skye Ridge Farm, so we resorted to The Organic Butcher in McLean, the next best place to buy pork in our area. An early morning call assured me there would be some succulent bones calling my name, plus a few Polyface chops which were on their way for fresh afternoon delivery. Honestly, the shopkeeper and I were mutually impressed the other knew what Polyface was. Anyway, some hours later found me soaking wet in their darling little hole in the wall, where I stumbled (I know, I'm a klutz) across some deliciously green and organic Brussels sprouts. These bright sweet cabbage-looking things are some of Jenn's favourite vegetables, and the organic kinds are a treasure to come by. Needless to say, they joined the pork on the wooden purchasing block in a heartbeat. Supper was cooking itself before my eyes!

The vehicle I was driving somehow delivered me safely home amidst torrents of rain and loud music, then I grabbed the camera, did a jig, and started cooking. My research had offered me a handful of Kotlovina recipes from which to choose; they were mostly similar, but some were more stewed and some were more fried and some were more starched and some were more veggied. You know what I mean. You also know that Jenn finds it insurmountably difficult to leave a recipe alone, so you can imagine what three recipes left me cooking. This is what happened:

Kotlovina, or, A dish from a certain part of Croatia that I can't remember the name of

Two pork shanks

Two 2-inch bone-in pork chops, a little bit more than a pound's worth

Three onions, sliced

One stalk of celery, sliced

One green or red sweet pepper, julienned

Two large ripe tomatoes, sliced

Five cloves garlic, sliced

One tablespoon paprika

A dash of hot paprika or red pepper flakes, to your liking

Two teaspoons ground mustard

Two or three cloves

A few fennel seeds

One crumbled bay leaf

A toss of the following spices: sage, oregano, thyme, parsley (we like a generous quantity of oregano)

A half cup of white wine or broth.

Real Salt, to your liking

Whew! That looks long written out, but it took me no time to throw all the seasonings in. Honest.

Since whatever Kotlovina is usually made in is usually made out of cast-iron, I used our cast-iron skillet to make the meal more authentic and to make clean-up afterwards a breeze. Double delight.

Thy pork marinates

Before cooking, season the pork with salt and pepper and let it marinade for a few hours.

Thy vegetables are chopped

But when it comes time to cook, the first task is to chop thine vegetables. You know how the Food Network people make meals in minutes? That's right. They chop all their vegetables first. I slice the onions last so the chemicals have the least time to make me cry, and by the time my onions are slicing, my pork is browning in a medium-high heat skillet. 

Thy chops are browned

Get the pork nicely browned on all sides until it smells tantalising and not burnt (you can slice your onions now). Between the skin and fat from the shanks and chops, I did not need to add any fat to accomplish the browning. However, your pork might need some help. I trust you to make the call. Once beautifully browned, remove the meat from your skillet and add the onions. Sprinkle a smidgen of salt on the onions and let them become translucent. 

Thine onions await

Proceed to toss in the rest of your vegetables and seasonings. Cook everything down a bit and stop to smell the flavors combining in a happy dance. Here's where you add your broth and/or wine. Whoosh! Don't you love that part? Your vegetables should start melting into a gorgeous mash which will serve as the perfect bed for your pork. 

The vegetables mash (and their steam gets in the way of pictures)

Thy meal is ready

Put the pork to sleep in the skillet, turn the heat down to a lulling low, and cover the skillet with a decently-fitted-lid-that-didn't-come-with-the-cast-iron. The meat should take about thirty minutes to thoroughly cook into a tender rosy gray. During this time, you may add some more broth to maintain the dish's proper mushy consistency. Then it is finished! Serve with roasted potatoes or rice and a vegetable side, such as...

They're green. They're cute. What could go wrong? 

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts

One package of organic Brussels Sprouts, about three or four cups? I don't really know.
Pork drippings and snippings
Three garlic cloves, chopped
Water or broth
Salt and Pepper

Before

Wash the sprouts and heat a pan to medium-high. Throw in the porky goodness and let it sweat a bit, then add your Brussels to the party and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss the veggies around for a bit to make sure they brown but don't stick. Eventually you will need to add some water or broth so they can keep on softening without burning. About five minutes before serving, throw in the garlic and stir everything around. I truly wanted to avoid burning anything, so these Brussels sprouts took about twenty minutes to cook. After all, they are basically sweet little cabbage-cabbages.

And after

Hope you enjoy the food! I wonder for which countries we will be cooking in the final. Hmm...

P.S. This is the third time the Indiana Jones main theme has played since I began writing the post. I almost feel like Wagner would be a relief. Almost.

FIRE Conference 2014: Part Two

Day Two

*Note: These posts are real-time Tuesday and Wednesday, but I was not able to post them until now due to internet connection and picture uploads.

The routine today was much the same as yesterday's, except for the requisite additional purchase of books, and thus I shall skip the "we did this and that and then the other" part of narration to plunge into an overview of the messages we heard and the ministries which caught my (and hopefully your) notice.

Josh was hauled into playing keyboard, and he fit right in.

First, for the sermons. As you may recall, we are working our backwards through FIRE, so the topics for today were "Independent" and "Fellowship". Joe Flatt had been charged with the former subject, and he proceeded to deliver a soul-gladdening message from Matthew 16:18-19. Basically, Christ owns the church, and God has deemed it well for ordinary people to be the basis of His institution. People are the keys to the church, and souls saved by grace make up His Bride. Is that not amazing? What is more, God's design includes flawed men running and shepherding His people. Why on earth would He do that? Perhaps to receive glory for the work done here on earth. How else but by His grace could a crowd of fishermen, farmers, insurance guys, coppers, and those strange seminary students keep a church going? Yes, it truly is all grace. Although not directly in the sermon, something struck me about the passage being expounded. Christ is the rock but He is also naming Peter the rock. I know the exact interpretation of this text is debated, but it appears to me that Jesus here is not really setting Peter up as a representation of Himself. No, the idea and play on words is more profound. Jesus is giving Peter His own identity. Christ is the cornerstone, and Peter is the rock because Christ is making him more like Himself. Pastors, and all of us, are Christians, "little Christs," who take on the identity of Jesus by His grace. Glorious much? And I think Peter might be carrying this image of Matthew 16 on into his writing in 1 Peter 2.

Joe Flatt on "Independent"

Anyway, that sets up for the conclusions Pastor Flatt drew from the text. 1) Christ builds His church through flawed human beings, so it must be clear that biblically approved men lead the church, those men are not individually indispensable, and God gets all the glory for whatever the church does. 2) Christ owns the church in the sense of architect, contractor, owner, and builder, so His design serves as the only floor plan. Don't mess with it. The building imagery also indicates the church is a building zone, and the building is not yet complete. Church can be messy and change faces from time to time because, remember, God uses people. But this same church is a guaranteed work in progress, for the owner is the confident Son of God and He boldly declares it will be made perfect. Yeah, stick with it. It's so worth it. 3) Christ owns the church in the sense that it's not yours. Don't behave like you own it, because you don't. No power play, please. 4) Because Christ owns it, the church will succeed no matter what. Not even Hades, Hell and Death and all that evil, will prevail against the battering ram of the church under Christ's banner. Now, that means only the church will succeed. She's the ship to be in, friends, for Christ is manning her. Don't look for salvation or success anywhere else. Oh, yes, and that success is defined by the Owner (Christ), not the gofer (men). Christ's definition of success equals Him saving and sanctifying a people for Himself. That's it, and don't worry about anything else. He is truly the perfect Orchestrator, the glorious Head, and the certain Champion. Therefore, praise God for the opportunity to serve in your local church! And let us not grow fainthearted, for He will fulfill His promises in and through us.

Yep. It was an epic sermon, and I could just see some of the pastors stand taller as Pastor Flatt finished. I mean, there's a lot of pressure removed when you realise you are simply instruments in a completely reliable Redeemer's hands! We non-pastors might want to think about how we treat our church leaders in light of these truths. Are my expectations, or non-expectations, of my local shepherd biblical and Christlike? How should I deal with him/them in light of this? Food for thought.

We took time to pray for one another in small groups

Next up came Steve Krogh preaching on "Fellowship" from...where? I was stumped on where the text would come from for both "Independent" and "Fellowship". Well, Steve Krogh went with the book of Malachi. Surprised? So was I. But it was awesome (again, in the real sense of the word). "Comfort ye my people" came to mind again and again as I listened through the sermon. Pastor Krogh started off by going through the many times God tells Israel "but you say" as the Israelites counteract God's words with their dreadful doubts about His love, worthiness, covenant, and justice in their time of trial. By chapter three, this slippery mental slope leads the Israelites to command repentance of God, call sin blessed, and question the utility of serving the Lord. It is not a pretty train of thought, yet it is also not a foreign one, even to those of the faith.

We also took time to eat, promise!

But what does this have to do with Fellowship? I was definitely asking that question half way through my sermon notes. And then BAM. Malachi 3:16 starts answering our wonderment. There were those who yet feared the Lord, who yet knew God is loving, worthy, faithful, just, and pure. And what did these God-trusters do? They spoke with one another. To me, that was like lightning. I know a chief defense mechanism of mine when I am hurting is retreat, isolation, withdrawal. Certes, everyone needs time to think and rest, for sure, but 'tis easy to use that good alone time as a cover up and take it much too far. The true solution to pain is fellowship! Fellowship around a common fear of the Lord. Convicting news to me, that was. Sometimes there really is pain in the offering of serving God, and it is within the fellowship of believers that we share and carry our joys and sorrows. How wonderful! What a spur to know Scripture so we might speak His words to our needy brothers and receive His words from our loving sisters in Christ. Although I felt like this would be the high point of the sermon, it just got better, for Malachi goes on to say that the Lord heard and paid attention to this fellowship of believers, and He called them "mine". Awesome. And then God wrote their names in a scroll of remembrance (like the scrolls Mordecai read to the sleepless king in Esther), because He has a purpose for His children, for those who trust even in the dark times. See, He is gathering us up for That Day when He will call all of His children "mine" and be glorified in us as His completed building, a beautiful Bride, a perfect fellowship of saints. God has something more glorious than we can imagine, no matter how prone we are to forget that glory in our darkness. And in Fellowship we remember That Glory and move ever closer towards That Day. The End.

Exactly. No words.

Steve Krogh on "Fellowship"

The day, and the conference, ended with one last rousing message from Joe Boot, who wrote a really really neat book on history for God's glory. He challenged us to live out our faith, speaking of "cult"ure as a "cult"ivation, religion expressed and belief applied. If we believe like a Christian, we need to live like a Christian in every single sphere of life. Christians are not compartmentalists; they dump their beliefs on everything they touch. And thus we go through time here on earth. I love love love that sort of thing, that concept of God working in history, and so I only grew even more glad before everything drew to a close.

What's a conference without those crazy group pictures?

But close it did...and so must this blog post. I know I said I would talk about the missions stuff that excited me from today and yesterday, but for your sake I will save that for tomorrow. This glorified version of sermon notes took up all the space even a long blog post allows, and don't your eyes know it! So come back tomorrow.

FIRE Conference 2014: Part One

Can you imagine being in a huge skylit room filled with pastors and their families worshipping the same God around His truth and learning from His word? That's me this week, and I am ever so thankful for it.

I am also ever so thankful for FIRE* and their national conference, which by God's grace has made this experience possible. The messages preached by this group of men have been so good, and the encouragement in ministry and love so profound, and the books so abundant and compellingly travel-friendly, that I have decided to conference blog today and tomorrow.

The happiest, most dangerous picture of them all.

The day bounced into motion with an odd search for the correct breakfast room in this sprawling college campus. The search did involve three breakfasts in successive breakfast rooms, but other FIRE conferencers were doing the same thing along with us, so I suppose it was not that strange. The food was great, by the way.

But not as good as the other sort of food awaiting. This morning was one of those bright Canadian mornings where the sky is really blue and the grass is really green and everything else has a kind of cheery yellow hue, and this effect was enhanced by the wall-to-wall windows in the session room which streamed in buckets of good, hale light. We were obviously in a great position to sing and worship the God which had brought us all together from around the world.

And sing we did! I love it when true believers sing. There is in it something divine.

People slowly filtered in as the band rose up to play.

Following this praise of song, about a dozen or so of the gathered pastors took turns presenting the states of their various churches and/or missions. We call these our Ministry Reports. Honestly, I was not sure what to expect from a crowd of men updating people on the past year of life, but I certainly did not expect for their reports to ground and hearten me in the faith. Yet that is precisely what happened! Through listening to these Biblically solid men describe the way God had worked in the last twelve months, I was reminded of the faithfulness of God. Even when your elder's wife is dying from physical abuse she sustained starting at the age of two. Even when your church is growing and you have planted churches and sent off international missionaries and are striving to keep the right intimacy a local church should have. Even when your leading pastor suddenly dies or needs to go into retirement and you don't know who will replace him. Even when you are living in Slumville and your main work is with crack addicts. Even when your town's living costs are much too high and all your young families have to move out. Even when you are a policeman or chaplain who is learning how to balance being a pastor as well ~ in the wake of a terrible mudslide. Even when your fifteen-year-old son dies horribly in a car crash. God is still faithful and trustworthy and good. He always provides. He always delivers. And He always gives His children the best. Those are all real stories from pastors in just this past year. And yet all of the men were calm, and joyful, and complete, knowing that our God is indeed sovereign in grace and unsurpassable in love. It was remarkable to observe the gifted faith of God in these men called by Him to pastor His flock. There are indeed good men out there, and we serve a good God.

Ministry booths set out for browsing

Another great reinforcement of my trust in God was the missionary focus which gushes from these ministry reports. The idea that Reformed people cannot be joyful, fearless, passionate (in the real sense of the word) evangelicals all around the globe positively crumbled before the updates of the men gathered today. There are sola scriptura families going to isolated people groups in Alaska and the upper regions of Canada. There are sola fide couples headed to undisclosed locations to spread the gospel, just so they can keep on serving God after American "retirement." There are sola gratia families going to Berlin and Romania to plant churches and work with troubled youth (I will be telling you more about these kinds of endeavors tomorrow). There are solus Christus men planting seeds and strengthening the understanding of believers in Northern Ireland through the unashamed use of His word. There is a Soli Deo Gloria community around the world all learning and teaching the importance of strong, indigenous local churches that are fully equipped to biblically counsel and disciple their congregations. Friends, there are people living by God's grace doing God's work all around us! Realising this brought me not only joy, but also a deeper desire to join in their work wherever God has me. He works in and through His people, after all.

Corbit and Kelli White, who are going to church plant in Berlin

Lunch. The conference food actually looked pretty good.

Between sermons and ministry reports, we enjoyed a nice lunch spread and plenty of coffee, hot chocolate, and a grand assortment of teas. Whatever else the food was, it involved an oversized basin of Greek Salad, which had Jenn smiling to herself. FIRE always provides ample time for fellowship during "meals" and "coffee breaks", because they know there is where all the action takes place. These hours are filled with pastors and their families meeting up and talking and talking and talking and brainstorming ~ with no time constraints! Apart from the messages, I can tell that this time of uninhibited fellowship is what causes these weather beaten pastors to leave with a spring in their step. It's a happy time all around.

The messages of the conference are going through the acronym of FIRE (Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals) in reverse order, so today we heard a message on "Evangelical", taken from Hebrews 10, and another on "Reformed", taken from Ephesians 2.

Scheming? Encouraging? Chit-chat? All of the above.

Jim Elliff preached on "Evangelical" and did a fantastic job of it. The point of his message was that at the heart of the gospel is Christ. This sounds simple and obvious, but it is not, for we often live as though it were not true. Pastor Elliff took us through Hebrews 10 and showed how Christ fulfilled and surpassed the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, pointing out the way Hebrews uses priestly language and imagery to make much of Christ as the Great High Priest. The blood of sheep and bulls could not dream of taking care of sin; they just pointed all the more blatantly to the sin we carry and to the Christ we need. Christ's work is the perfect work, and no other sacrifice counts. Yet we see the author of Hebrews warning people who know this gospel to not drift away from its centre: Christ. And don't I know it is our tendency to drift from His perfect sacrifice! How easy it is for us believers to slide away from His atoning work and start relying on other sacrifices, on our own works, on our past religion of self. The author of Hebrews, and thereby Pastor Elliff, exhorts us to just don't. Don't rely on the blood of sheep and bulls, on our own blood, sweat, and tears, to make us holy. No, His Sacrifice is the only one that works. Holiness comes from Him, who redeems us, sets us apart, consecrates us, for good works which He already has designed (Titus 2 and 3). Good works go up in our estimation when they are because and born of Christ, and this is something evangelicals - all believers who are all ministers - must keep forefront in their life. Also using more priestly language, Hebrews calls us to draw near as Christ's Body because His sacrifice was so perfect, so perfect that there could not be a more perfect sacrifice. What confidence we may have in Christ, in the true gospel! The point of the message is that we are as forgiven, cleansed, perfected, as we could possibly be through Christ for God. So let's live that out. Amen?

Pastor Crotts preaching on "Reformed"

Then, John Crotts preached a solid sermon on "Reformed", from (where else?) Ephesians 2. It was a beautiful message resounding with the grace of God and the humility yet boldness with which we live because of what He has done for us. He described our desperate condition before salvation, God's gracious solution to our desperate death (that glorious "but God!"), and the new characteristics of believers saved by God for God. My favourite ideas drawn from this sermon were, first, that God planned salvation in such an awesome way so that He would get all the glory. Really, now, the song we will be singing in Revelation 5:4-9 is a chorus of praise for His great work of salvation. And since we are humbled before yet exalted with Christ {!}, we are happiest when we see Him get all the glory. Yes, yes, yes! Secondly, I loved how Pastor Crotts highlighted that we are God's workmanship. Our salvation was the work of a virtuoso, our sanctification the masterpiece of a superb artist. He even designed the good works He would have us do beforehand (Ephesian 2:10, and an excellent throwback to Pastor Elliff's sermon)! Yeah, salvation is exciting. God is awesome. The end.

As if that were not enough joy and food for application for one day, there was another message preached by Glenn Dunn on "Unity, Liberty, and Charity" because FIRE's motto is "In essentials Unity, in nonessentials Liberty, and in all things Charity." Taken from Ephesians 4 and John 17 mainly, the thrust of this message was that our unity is centered on truth. When we throw truth away, we throw away the possibility of Christian communion. We see Jesus praying in the garden for us to be united in truth (His word is truth), and He prayed this right before He went to the cross, so obviously this was very important to Him. That ought to sober us up straightaway. These were "last words" requests, and His work has made His request a sure reality. Pastor Dunn outlined four areas to grow in for unity: 1) Love ~ we love because He first loved us, 2) Mind ~ we have the mind of Christ being formed in us, and His mind is definitely not divided, 3) Evangelism ~ fellowship among believers is an amazing witness to the lost, for they will know us because our love one for another, and 4) Purpose ~ we are united in our goal and aim, God's glory. That is our chief end, and if we are all working to the same goal, of course we must be and behave in unity. May God be glorified in His people!

Not exactly the point of the conference, but, hey, it's important.

That is all for today. It certainly got me singing a tune! I expect tomorrow's lineup will be just as good. Since I covered the introduction here, tomorrow's post should be shorter than this doozy of an info message.

*Without getting into too much detail, FIRE (Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals) is a group of churches and pastors who rally around the sufficiency of Scripture and the sovereignty of God, and their conferences are basically these pastors sitting around and talking about it. Oh, and coffee and food and note-taking on tiny digital apparatuses, mainly iPads. And wonderful fellowship. And books!!!

The Best Preacher

Wouldn't you like to know who the best preacher of the Bible is? Be savvy of the guy who guarantees you a pure, simple, and profound look at the Bible every single Sunday? How about have constant access to the expositor who knows exactly how to tailor the Word to your soul and circumstances?

No, I shan't be comparing the Pipers and Sprouls and MacArthurs and Carsons of this world to see who comes out on top. This is not a shameless plug for my dad's sermons (oh, wait, don't look now, but...) or for my list of favourite preachers and authors.

Draw near in a snowy sunrise

This is me reminding me, and maybe you as well, of the wonderful gift of entry we have to the Best Preacher that ever was or will be. This is me exhorting me to faithfully draw near, and often.

Perhaps by now you have an inkling of Who it is I am alluding to ~ and, no, C.S. Lewis does not come anywhere near close.

Yes, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, you and I who belong to God have a free and unlimited subscription to the Holy Spirit. We don't need to go on YouTube, we don't need to pay any online streaming fees, we don't need to buy the latest books. The message of the Gospel is that God makes it possible for God to live in us so that we can live in Him. Guys, the gift of faith gives us the Spirit of God. We already have the best Preacher.

The Spirit of the Comforter, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Truth, indwells us by God's matchless grace. I don't know how to make it sound exciting, but, think about it: God has given us HIS SPIRIT to live inside of us! No Piper can touch our heartstrings in the way that the Holy Spirit, who knows us, can speak to our souls. No Carson can shed the light of doctrine to our very own unique minds in the magnificent way that the Holy Spirit imparts truth to our souls. No Lewis can explain and sanctify our desires in the way that the Holy Spirit radically transforms our souls. The Best Preacher is with us, all the time, everywhere. This is news of inexpressible joy, is it not, my friends? Let us not ignore or neglect that gift.

But O how often do we do just that! See, the Spirit is God and the Spirit brings Truth. That means He always acts in accordance with the Word of God. The present of the Spirit is that He uncovers, unbinds, enlightens, convicts, applies, and comforts us in the Word of Truth, the Bible. But how frequent are the days where we do not give the Bible a second glance, apart from maybe doing a quick word search to send a friend some encouragement or gobbling a chapter down just in time for that weekly Bible study. How often do we slight personal enrichment in Scripture! The fact is, if there is no Bible before our eyes, there is no Spirit working in our hearts. The Two, the Person and the Word, go together hand in hand. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit gives us a love for His Word so that it is a delight to be pierced by His sword and strengthened in all truth. If the Spirit lives in us by God's grace, He will always draws us back to Scripture...eventually.

Draw nigh when life seems to be a bed of roses

So do I love His Word or do I balk at it, or, as is often the case, do I forget about it? Do I read it? Am I starving myself of His truth in my life? Am I denying myself the food He provides me through the work of His Spirit in the Word? Again, let us not ignore the gift of the Spirit speaking directly to our hearts through Scripture. That's something no earthly preacher can do.

I mean, peoples, this is why Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven! He said it was better for us to have the Holy Spirit during this season. Don't believe me? Slide down to these excerpts from John 14-16 (well, really, if you have time, just read John 14-17 in its entirety...like all the time. But for now, portions will have to do):

'“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ... These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."' [John 14:15-20, 26]

"“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."' [John 15:26]

'"But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."' [John 16:5-15]

And draw nigh in the cloudy skies

So you see? Christ Himself assured His disciples, and thereby us, that, as shockingly dreadful and terrifying as it may sound, Christ leaving to be with the Father was actually a good thing. As always, God leaves us with the best for our life. The best for us is the Comforter, the Being who knows us individually and grows us into unity; the Person who unlocks the secrets of our hearts to convict us of sin and open us to righteousness; the Spirit who is 100% with us so we don't have to go on a pilgrimage to Israel to meet the Christ. These are just a few of the blessings we have in the Holy Spirit, and it is with Him that Jesus chose to console His disciples upon His departure. Let us be consoled and reassured as well, and let us take advantage of the incredible gift we have in this Spirit of Truth! Let us go to the Preacher daily. Let us do so with relish and in joy. May the Scripture he illuminates fill us with delight.

Aka: Read. Our. Bibles.
And He fills us with His truth and wisdom. And we will have The Best Preacher Ever: a Heavenly one, the Spirit of God.

But one last thing. Although I am trying to not disclaim myself all the time (hehe), I think this post merits a disclaimer. Jenn Jenn is NOT ~ I repeat: by no means ~ telling you to chuck out your church and your pastor and your good books to just "go it alone" with you and your independent lil self. God gives us a love for His Word, and a love for His People. He designed us to grow in Community and under Biblical Counsel. Is Scripture sufficient? Absolutely. Are we hermits with a Book and a candle in a cave? Absolutely not. So don't quit church. Christians don't quit church. Christians read their Bibles ~ not as a duty, but as a delight. Capisce? Good. Thanks. You may go now.

Photo discredit Jenn Jenn

On Mary and Martha, or, On Hospitality

"Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" by Diego Velásquez, 1618

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
~Luke 10:38-42

There are so many lessons to draw out of this text, as many people already have, so I will not here try to be exhaustive, but just focus on one thing.

Hospitality. Hospitality, that is, in Christ.

Usually when I have seen this text expounded upon, I come out thinking Martha and Mary are pitted against each other on all levels and Martha is horrid for serving drinks while she should be listening to Jesus. "Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Just sit at Jesus' feet!" At least, that is what I hear (perhaps mistakenly, I admit).

Anyhow, whenever I do hear that, my little toe spazzes and my eyebrows yank and my ear twitches. As in, I am bothered. Mayhaps 'tis because I have so often identified with Martha, mayhaps 'tis because I like practicality and never understood the whole "Let them eat cake!" mentality. I mean, people still need water and food to keep breathing, whether they worship God or Vishnu. And Jesus knew that. So I could never bring myself to believe that what Christ actually wanted Martha to do was to throw out the vittles and live on the dew of the universe as she sat enthralled at His feet. There had to be something else, or maybe something more.

Let's take a peek at the text, and see if anything pops up. First, what exactly does Martha do? She welcomes Jesus into her house. That's something, no? How many people do you think were welcoming a hunted Pharisee-infuriating Rabbi? Nevertheless, after that good start, Martha became "distracted with much serving." Ouch! She was missing out on the very thing she spent so much time and energy to facilitate: welcoming the person of Christ into her home. On the other hand, Mary sat at Jesus' feet to hear whatever He came to say in the first place. But Martha was distracted with serving.

What was her problem? Was it the food? Was it the dusting? Was it the napkins folded like swans and the spoons set in the proper order, or preparing the perfect menu and making sure The Rabbi ate local and organic? (Okay, so maybe those were not exactly first-century problems, but you get my point.) Nope! The service and the meal and the cleanliness were not Martha's sin. They may have been her headaches, but they were not her problem.

Read that one sentence again. "But Martha was distracted..." Ohhhhh. She was distracted. As in, she was totally off-tract (track). Yes, her problem lay not in the glasses and the plates, but in her purpose with those glasses and plates, in that purpose which was letting the food get in the way of The Food. Martha's focus, goal, vision were all wrong.

You know what? I think Martha could have served a superb spread in a beautifully clean house without bringing Jesus' loving rebuke upon herself. The problem was not her hospitality, but her heart. And you know what also? I think Mary was probably a great help around the house. I bet she wasn't some ascetic dreamer who eschewed dusting as some low, insignificant calling. See, Mary's heart was right, so her hospitality could be pure, too. If only Martha's heart were in the right place, with the right focus, she would have been able to be a lovely hostess and a loving listener as well.

But her heart wasn't in the right place. It was distracted, remember? She let her soul bend on the cutlery and the preparations, and that was her undoing.

What is the remedy, for me and for her and for you? Yeah, you are smart. You guessed it. The "one thing that is necessary": Christ.

If Martha's focus had been on Christ, she would have provided what was needed to better enable her guests, and herself, to drink in His words. Instead of worrying about how the floors reflected on her housekeeping skills, instead of agonizing over whether the meal showed off her culinary achievements to their greatest advantage ~ in short, instead of being "anxious and troubled about many things" ~ Martha could have gladly and simply served the Master with a selfless heart so she could sit at His feet, too. Will people need water and some bread on this hot and dusty day in order to better focus on Jesus? Yes? Alright, we will provide some. She could skip the caviar happily if that meant allowing Jesus to shine brighter in her home. She could leave out the crystal and china if their requisite care would have "distracted" anyone (including herself) from what Jesus had to say. Basically, if it helped Jesus be big in her house, it was a go, and she could relax and rejoice. However, if it shoved Jesus away from her house, it had to go, and she could still relax and rejoice!

Mary grasped this concept. She chose the better thing and focused on the Master, knowing that everything domestic was already in order for Him to be the center of attention. Any more fussing over details would have only been superfluous and distracting to the whole point of their hospitality: Christ, the One Thing Necessary.

What does this mean for our hospitality, then?

It means that all the fiddling we do with the plates, the menu, and the dusting must have one purpose and one purpose only: making much of Christ. It means you can be a Martha. You can be a Martha with a Mary heart, a Mary vision, and a Mary desire. You can relish in folding your cloth napkins into swans or in having your toddler try his best to make a triangle with paper towels. You can serve an ∞-course meal (like in Babette's Feast) or grab a casserole out of the freezer.
Should China dishes only distress and prevent you, and therefore your guests, from beholding Jesus in the midst of your home, crack the China. Should your use of China dishes bless you and your guests by showing the generosity and love and splendor of Christ to those coming over for the evening meal, then, by all means, break out the China (not, ahem, literally) and delight in the afternoon-teaness of it. Whatever serves to exalt the name of God in your home, whatever most shows the love and grace and truth and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to His guests at your house is precisely what you ought to do.

Remember, we are simply stewards left for a while on this earth to glorify the King and bless His name. That's what your welcome mat is for. That's what your pocket-book is for. That is what your broom is for, and your pots and pans, and disposable plates and crystal jars. They are all the King's, loaned to you as tools for making Him known on His earth while you are here. Go ye therefore, brothers and sisters, and use those instruments for their one purpose: to make disciples in His person and truth.

So the next time you are flying frantic "getting the house clean for company," please remember to prepare the necessary things to magnify the One Thing Necessary. Believe me, your frantic state is not on the necessary list. In other words, turn your eyes upon Jesus, friends, and make sure you can look full in His wondrous face as you overview the table-settings, bathrooms, kitchens, and front door. Because, really, those things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.