Posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 11:31 am
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When I arrived home yesterday at about two in the afternoon, I asked my wife “Does it seem to you that my sermons are getting progressively worse?” She assured me that they weren’t (I figured that meant that they had always been that bad) and always does what she can to help me to remember that it is not me who does anything on Sunday.
The second service started out as a nightmare. I mean a real nightmare. I am always so afraid that I am going to mispronounce something or say something in such a way that it is scandalous. As I started the invocation yesterday that very nearly happened. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but it was awful and was a second and a half of silence (while I was trying to figure out what I had said and what to do to fix it) seemed like an eternity. But, like dropping a lid to the communion set, life goes on.
I take great comfort in a line from John Piper: “God will hide much of the results of our preaching because he wants to glorify himself and not us.” I believe that and that is what keeps me coming back each week to take another swing at it. While I am not a home run hitter, every once in a while God allows me an infield single. I come to the pulpit hoping for one, but knowing that anyone in the stands who is really moved, is moved by the wind of the Spirit, and not the wind of the bat.
Glory to God Alone,
DSL
Posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 11:11 am
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This week I am working on getting a book read that I am reviewing for the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. The work, called Fabricating Jesus, deals with many of the attacks of modern scholarship on the historical Jesus. It is a fairly technical book, and unless you are really into the historical Jesus movement and the modern work that has been done, it would likely not be a great read for you. On the other hand if you want to know about The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of Mary, or the Secret Gospel of Mark, this is the book to get. It is well written by a scholar who understands the material and explains it clearly.
The second book I am reading this week is about preaching. I try to read at least four books on preaching every year, just to keep up with the current ideas, and to try to get a little better at what I do. This work has to do with the move from outline preaching to inductive preaching. The move has been pioneered by such people as Calvin Miller and Fred Craddock who argue that the sermon should move in a story like fashion rather than a lecture like fashion. I am an outline kind of person, but I try to make at least some of my work inductive and to use as much creativity as I can. While you may not be a preacher, you might be interested to read some works on preaching to help you make better presentations, lessons, lectures, etc. The book is called The Shape of Preaching, and it has been out only a few months.
I, of course, always have a few books that I am reading just for fun. This weekend I read the fourth and final book in the series The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it. 
Tolle Lege,
DrSamLam
Posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 3:00 pm
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I spoke with Warren yesterday and he is feeling a good deal better and expected to be released from the hospital today. He will be staying in a hotel for a few days until he has the after-surgery appointment with the surgeon and then will be heading back to Ft. Lauderdale for some more rest and recuperation. He asked me specifically to thank everyone for their prayers and for the extreme kindness that they have shown to him and his family. He feels very blessed to have had such good care in Dallas (according to the Gages, everything is better in Texas) and can’t wait to get back into the pulpit and the classroom. Please continue to keep the family in your prayers.
DSL
Posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am
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Today I want to tell you about one of my top five books that many people talk about but few people really read. It is a very difficult book to understand the first time through and so I have a few recomendations for you. First, make sure you get the translation with the notes that I show you. This will help you a great deal. Second, get some Cliff’s notes or something like that to help you get big ideas. Third, think about signing up for Knox’s Christianity and Culture class (the first one) where we deal with this work alongside of another great book about cities. This course is available for distance study should you live some distance away. You will have your choice between having myself or Dr. Gage as a teacher. I would recomend Dr. Gage. You can check out the exact course description at http://knoxseminary.org/prospective_students/master_christianity_culture_courses.aspx Just click on CC 500 The Origins of Christian & Anti-Christian Culture. Enough of this, here is the book, Plato’s Republic. It has some of the most important parables, outside the Bible, in the world. The Cave, the Stargazer, the Ring of Invisibility are all critically important and communicate a great deal in the way of a story. This is a book to be read, re-read, and read again.
Happy Stargazing . . .
Posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 10:15 am
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I have a very quirky sense of humor. Those of you that know me find that no surprise. I really enjoyed the movie (though this is not an endorsement on any level for anyone else to watch it) “Little Miss Sunshine.” Please don’t watch it and tell me that it is not suitable for children or perhaps not suitable for some adults. I know that, but it is a profoundly moving film on several levels. In many ways it is a story of redemption in spite of failure and sin.
Toward the end of the movie there is a conversation about the writer Marcel Proust and how he dealt with the extreme difficulty in his life. I won’t spoil the conversation for you, but I will give you a line from Proust that may help you to understand his frame of reference:
“The only paradise is a paradise lost.”
Proust seems to be saying that without tragedy we do not appreciate the comedy. That we never really know about paradise until it is lost from us and we long for it. There is something of that in all of us. We know that the world should not be this way. That there ought not to be schools where students are shot for no reason; towers were planes fly in killing the innocent; and sickness that takes the lives of children before their time. We long for that city, as Plato did, where none of these things happen.
The great news of the Gospel is that there is not only a paradise lost, but that there is a paradise regained. That we are moving toward the city of hope and perfection where there will be no more crying; where the river of gladness will run through the middle to remind us that we are in paradise. We need tragedy to remind us of the coming comedy. Comedy in the truest sense, of the happy ending; of the ultimate wedding; and of living happily ever after.
C. S. Lewis reminded us that we desire that which we know exists: food, water, and the perfect city. We hunger and thirst for a city that is not here yet, but we walk on knowing that the road does not end at a cliff, but at a beautiful celestial city.
Walk on . . .
P.S. Thanks to Gideon for the question that prompted this blog.
Posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 10:08 am
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I spoke to Betty Gage last night and Dr. Gage is doing well, but in some pain as is common the second day after surgery. He will likely be dismissed today (Thursday) and will stay in Dallas for a follow up appointment on Monday. This would put his arrival back in Ft. Lauderdale sometime early next week.
Again, the family has asked me to thank you for all of your prayers and kind wishes and for respecting the “no phone calls” desire. They miss you all and look forward to seeing you soon. Your cards have been a great encouragement and they are praising the Lord for His goodness in this difficult time.
I will post more as I receive more information.
DrSamLam
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