Archive for the ‘Stetson’s Favorites’ Category
Farewell to Indian Country
The fields that surround the farm house where I grew up are known to my son and his cousins as “Indian country.” My dad was always fascinated by Indians and in his make-believe play as a boy he would often run among them as a young brave. One day as my dad led his grandchildren on a walk through the field he thought they’d enjoy this imaginary world from his childhood. He sat down on a flat rock and began to tell them stories about the Indian chief that would gather his braves around him at that very spot. The Indians always seemed to be just beyond the horizon, but somtimes dad would say if the kids squinted their eyes hard enough they could see them in the distance. And so Indian country became a part of Isaiah’s childhood… and he loved every minute he spent there with grandpa as his guide.
Yesterday was Isaiah’s last walk into Indian country before we leave for Italy. From the outset I knew that one difficulty of ministering on a foreign field would be leaving behind pieces of our lives that we would not normally have set aside. On this day Isaiah would leave behind Indian country. The finality of seeing my son walk quietly beside his grandpa in a place that has held such magic for them both was sobering and once again I was reminded how greatly my calling affects the lives of those I love.
Today was the last day we would visit my parents’ farm for quite some time. Isaiah hugged and kissed both his grandparents good-bye and his smiling face told them he loved them and would miss them. As we got in the car he could no longer hold back the tears and he began to weep. I drove silently. Sandy consoled Isaiah. Pearl slept. Isaiah wept some more. He said, “I didn’t want to cry around grandma and grandpa. I didn’t want to upset them.” Grandpa’s little “Indian” was trying hard to be brave.
I entrust Isaiah to his Saviour and fully believe he has an incredible life ahead of him filled with many adventures. As he looks back into the shadows of his mind the “Indians” that always evaded him on his exploits with grandpa will only grow clearer with time. And for dad, as he imagines our new life in Italy, in his mind there will always be a little blonde headed boy running around in Indian country.
God Being a Spirit
My first impression walking into the Sistine Chapel was that the iconic image that Michelangelo painted of God creating Adam was much smaller than I imagined. It is contained in one of nine rectangular panels that depict scenes from the Book of Genesis that run down the central portion of the ceiling. Not knowing much about the fresco beforehand I had expected to see a dominant image of God, but was rather surprised that it was somewhat lost amongst the more than 300 painted figures that covered the ceiling of the chapel.
This iconic image of God framed in a panel serves as a metaphor to me of how we confine God in our imaginations. We may not conceptualize God as Michelangelo’s elderly white-bearded man wrapped in a cloak but oftentimes I think we are guilty of limiting God in our minds. In the third chapter of Stephen Charnock’s The Existence and Attributes of God he expounds on the doctrine of God being a Spirit.
Volume 1 Chapter 3 On God Being a Spirit
The Bible declares that God is infinite, “for the heaven of heavens cannot contain him” (2 Chron. 2:6). God, as a Spirit, fills heaven and earth and is not limited by a body. It is true that God is described in the Bible as having many parts of the body but this condescension of God is to make Himself known to man with such representations that will assist our finite minds of understanding His infinite nature.
God is an infinite, immense, eternal, invisible, incorruptible spiritual being and yet sinful man has always been prone to represent Him in a bodily form. This has impaired the reverence of God in the minds of men and often limits Him with the imperfections found in our own bodies. I wonder if we often live independent of God because we subconsciously transfer to Him human attributes and flaws such as not seeing our every step, not knowing our every thought, not hearing our every word, etc.
Charnock writes that though we cannot have a suitable conception of God we must not be content without any conception of Him. It is a sin to have a low notion of God but if we ascend as high as we can in our thoughts we will still come short of a suitable notion of Him… this however is not our sin, but the weakness of our humanity.
The nature of God as a Spirit is infinitely superior to whatever we can conceive in our minds. Charnock concludes, “Whatsoever God is, He is infinitely so: He is infinite Wisdom, infinite Goodness, infinite Knowledge, infinite Power, infinite Spirit; infinitely distant from the weakness of creatures, infinitely mounted above the excellencies of creatures. Conceive of Him as excellent, without any imperfection; a Spirit everywhere without place; powerful without members; understanding without ignorance; wise without reasoning; light without darkness; infinitely more excelling the beauty of all creatures and when you have risen to the highest, conceive Him yet infinitely above all you can conceive of spirit and acknowledge the infirmity of your own minds. And whatsoever conception comes into your minds, say, ‘This is not God; God is more than this: if I could conceive Him, He were not God; for God is incomprehensibly above whatsoever I can say, whatsoever I can think and conceive of Him.’”
What a glorious thought that this same God was manifest in the flesh, died for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day, received up into glory, and through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, He now is in me forever and His eternal life is my present possession - O what a God, O what a Saviour!
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” – John 4:24
“Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” – 1 Timothy 6:16
Baptism
The word baptism comes into English directly from a Greek word meaning to dip or immerse. Baptism pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the believer is immersed under the water and raised up again. It is a public testimony of the convert’s identification with Jesus Christ and spiritual immersion into Him. It is a witness to the fact that the believer’s life has been transformed by becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.
There is much false teaching among those claiming to be Christians concerning baptism. The Church of Christ falsely teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation by twisting Acts 2:38 as well as other scriptures unto their own destruction. However there are no cases of baptism in the Bible of anyone but believers after their salvation. Given that Sandy was raised Church of Christ she has been especially sensitive in not rushing Isaiah to be baptized to ensure that he understood its significance without connecting it in anyway to his salvation experience at the age of four.
Although baptism is not essential for salvation it is essential for service and it is the first step towards spiritual maturity. As an ordained minister I have been given the authority by my local church to administer the ordinance of baptism. On Sunday evening August 28th I had the privilege of baptizing Isaiah at our home church. It was a special experience for me as a father.
I got choked up as I said, “Isaiah Matthew Planck, upon your profession of faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” As I took Isaiah under the water and spoke the words, “Buried in the likeness of Christ’s death” it seemed that time stood still for a moment. Christ’s death in the Father’s eyes was impressed upon my spirit as I beheld my son with eyes shut under the water. How it must have grieved the Heavenly Father to see the death of His only begotten Son, but it was for only a moment. As I brought Isaiah up out of the water and from this picture of death, the congregation shouted with joy and I could hardly hear myself say, “raised in the likeness of His resurrection.”
Later I reflected on the shout of joy among the congregation as I simultaneously spoke of the resurrection and brought my son back into view. I considered how all of heaven must have roared with excitement as the Son of God was raised from the dead. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord we serve a risen Saviour and are enabled to walk in the power of His resurrection.
“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” – Acts 8:36,37