17 The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing.” Zephaniah 3 (CSB)
An amazing passage I struggle to believe is true (at times). Oh, I believe He is mighty to save. Too often I feel forgotten, abandoned, forsaken, worthless. Yes, they go together.
There is a lifetime of being forgotten, ignored, abandoned and assaulted behind this. I’m not peculiar in this regard.
If I matter so little to others who matter so little how can I matter to One so great? Perhaps because that is part of Your greatness- that You take account of those who are of account. You delight in me, or will. Yes, that takes faith unless you are full of pride and assume others will delight in you because you’re all that.
He quiets us with His love. Note the contrast. He’s a Warrior who sings songs and quiets us with His love.
This is where Mason goes, in a sense. God gives us joy as we sit. As we are still. Joy is a gift from God, not an achievement of the flesh or will.
Too often I/we lack joy because we are too busy for it. On the run we aren’t still. Place to place, activity to activity. We don’t see the glimpses of glory that bring joy. We don’t notice the deer in the field by the road, hear the song of the birds, behold the clouds or the sunset hanging in the sky.
CavFriends and CavKids
We fill ourselves with snacks and fast food and can’t slow down for corn on the cob, a well-cooked steak. We lack the patience, and we have no joy. Quiet me with Your love.
We can delight in the One who delights in us because He has rescued us. His strength puts us in a place of delight and joy. We can rest secure because the Conquering King surrounds us and protects us. Help us to believe that the chariots of fire surround us so we are filled with joy, not fear.
A few years ago I read the Works of John Newton. While I blogged on all the volumes there was one subject I meant to go back to: assurance of salvation.
I recently brought up Newton in a post, and a sermon, in a tangential way. It’s time.
Volume 4 contains 18 letters to the Rev. Mr. S******. In the 5th letter a problem emerges that continues over the course of their correspondence. I thought this might be helpful for people, including/especially pastors.
The 5th Letter
This pastor struggled to believe the very message he preached each week.
“I pity you that you have so many conflicts, yet I rejoice with you because I know the Lord intends you good by these tossings, and will thereby keep you humble and dependent.” pp. 412
Newton applied his theology, particularly Romans 8:28, but in an encouraging way. He didn’t tell the man to believe this; he told the man that he believed it would be the case. He was confident that God had good intentions in this man’s life. He tried to encourage the man with his own faith.
“I am sure the Lord has not muzzled you: how is it then, that while you set forth a free salvation to others, you do not feed upon it yourself; but contradict your own preaching, and reason and complain, as though you had found out that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot cleanse from all sin; or, as though the Lord were as changeable as you are? I know you are a staunch Calvinist in your judgment, or I should think you are an Arminian, by some of your complaints.” pp. 412
Pastors need to listen to their own words, and believe them. Those words are not just for the people in the pews. It is important to preach the gospel to yourself on Sunday morning. It is for you too, not just for them. The offer of the gospel and its benefits extends to the preacher as well as the hearer.
“How can you teach others to live a life of faith, except you learn, by daily experience, to live it yourself? And the life of faith is maintained, not by bags and coffers, but by pleading the promise in prayer, when we have nothing else to look to.” pp. 413
Makes me wonder if his struggle was connected to a lack of response, and financial problems, among his congregation. The next paragraph calls him to not concern himself with such things. Newton encouraged him to practice what he preaches, to live each day in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One important aspect was to plead in prayer for fulfillment of the promise of salvation and all the other promises.
He was to be faithful and diligent in his duties. He was to be persistent in prayer. The increase comes from God.
I know it can be hard. This is where I live these days. This is what I keep reminding myself. Newton continued for our benefit: “The more you believe, the better you will preach.”
The 6th Letter
“I apprehend your mind is darkened with temptation, for your views of the gospel, when you preach, are certainly clearer than your letter expresses.” pp. 414
God is merciful to our congregations. God continued to feed the sheep despite the pastor’s struggles, and lack of clarity in his own mind. He superintended and worked above and beyond that man’s ability, and ours.
This pastor wasn’t sure if he was deluded concerning his election. As Sibbes says we don’t begin where God begins (election) but where He ends (believing in the Lord Jesus Christ). We are not to concern ourselves with the decree but our response to the call.
“You tell me what evidences you want, namely spiritual experiences, inward holiness, earnest endeavors. All this I may allow in the right sense; but in judging on these grounds, it is common and easy in a dark hour to turn the gospel into a covenant of works.” pp. 414
He was basing his experience of justification on his progress in sanctification, which can be a deadly error. It is based on the promise!
“But if you will look for a holiness, that shall leave no room for the workings of corruption and temptation; you look for what God has no where promised, and for what is utterly inconsistent with our present state.” pp. 415
Again applying his theology. We can look for something akin to perfection (though we won’t admit it) so the experience of temptation and transgression throw us into a tailspin. The remnant of corruption is alive and kicking. We will experience temptations, even the darkest and most vile, and transgress in thought, word and deed daily. We act like we don’t want to need Jesus in the now.
“For my own part, I believe the most holy people feel the most evil. Indeed when faith is strong and in exercise, sin will not much break out to the observation of others; but it cuts them out work enough within. Indeed, my friend, you will not be steadily comfortable, till you learn to derive your comforts from a simple apprehension of the person, work and offices of Christ.” pp. 415
Many of the most godly people have thought themselves the most ungodly. Closer to the light they see more of the spots and stains on their clothes. They see the inner corruption more clearly. They are humbled, saved and set free (as Charlie Peacock sang). Look not to your holiness or lack thereof, but to Christ, what He has done for our salvation and the offices of prophet, priest and king He fulfills for our salvation.
The 7th Letter
Newton touches upon a common problem for preachers. And parents.
“My preaching seems, in some respects, contrary to my experience. … I can often find something to say on these subjects in the pulpit; but at some other times, my thoughts of Jesus are so low, disjointed, and interrupted, that it seems as if I knew nothing of him but by the hearing of the ear.” pp. 416-7
We all experience the dissonance between what we teach and what we do. As I wrote in a poem many years ago: we are people of contradictions. We don’t live up to our ideals. This is precisely why we need Jesus who saves us to the uttermost by His blood and intercession. The better words His blood speaks is louder than all our evils.
This is Newton talking about himself in this letter. Newton was not above it all, but knew himself a great sinner with a greater Savior.
“Help me to praise him; and may he help you to proclaim the glory of his salvation, and to rejoice in it yourself.” pp. 417
Yes, rejoice in it yourself. Let the gospel turn your mourning over sin into joy.
The 8th Letter
Newton goes deeper and makes distinctions, which is one of the most important tasks of doing theology.
“I long for you to learn to distinguish between what are properly the effects of a nature miserably depraved, and which shows itself in the heart of every child of God, and the effects of Satan’s immediate temptations. What you complain of are the fiery darts, but you cannot be properly said to shoot them at yourself; they come from an enemy, and the shield of faith is given you, that you may quench them; why then are you so ready to throw it away?” pp. 417-8
There is temptation that arises from within, from our corruption. There is temptation that arise from without (the world and the devil) which can find a happy home in our corrupt flesh. Rev. Mr. S***** interpreted these external temptations as rendering the shield of faith useless. That is precisely God’s gracious provision that he needed. The shield is not a permanent, passive barrier around us like a force field. As the attack comes we need to pick it up.
Maturity helps us learn how to discern the source of particular temptations. Sometimes it is easy. You may see a car and begin to covet it. That is external. If you just start thinking about a car and coveting, it is your own heart.
William Still speaks of the unusual, unexpected, out of the blue and character temptations Satan (or a fallen angel under his authority) produces within you. It feels like your own thought, but it comes from a demonic source.
Again he advocates thinking more of Jesus and less of ourselves. This will often help our mindset.
The 11th Letter
“Your judgment in the gospel is sound; but there is a legal something in your experience, which perplexes you. You are capable of advising others; I wish you could apply more effectively what you preach, to yourself, and distinguish in your own case between a cause for humiliation and a reason of distress.” pp. 421
Sinclair Ferguson calls this a legal spirit. We may intellectually grasp the gospel but we still have hesitations about the character of God, as least where we are concerned. He’s harder on us than others. There is mercy for them, but not for us.
We are not to cease advising others, but to begin taking the same advice. Apply it to our own sins, or own struggles.
Newton continues to say this reveals too low an estimation of Jesus and His power and promises. It is an ironic manifestation of pride with regard to our sin.
“All depends upon the sun; just so the exercise of grace depends upon the Sun of Righteousness. When he withdraws, we find ourselves very bad indeed, but no worse in ourselves than the Scriptures declare us to be.” pp. 422
And withdraw He does at times. He calls us deeper and farther in. The Confession speaks of this under Assurance of Grace and Salvation paragraph 4. We feel abandoned, but we are not. He has withdrawn the light of His countenance, or smile. We enter the dark night of the soul, not to confused with condemnation. The Christian life isn’t all puppies and rainbows. There are giant, angry beasts and storms that bring the roof down. But all is not lost. The shadow proves the sunshine. The clouds only obscure the sun, it is still there and will shine upon us again because of the mercies of God in Christ.
The 13th Letter
While not expressly about assurance of salvation, Newton interacts with the laxity of his day.
“My heart is deceitful and wicked; my services poor and polluted, my sins very many, and greatly aggravated; so that I should be one of the last to be censorious. And yet I cannot help seeing that the profession of many is cold where it should be warm, and only warm in animosity and contention. The Lord help us! for we are in a woeful case as a people.” pp. 425
There is a warning her about being censorious toward others. There are times, not to be generally censorious, but personally to gently restore a straying sibling. The same is true as we deal with those lacking assurance, those experiencing doubts. Be patient and gentle with them. Do not break the bruised reed.
The 16th Letter
Newton returns to the depth of our sinfulness again.
“My outward life, through mercy, is not like theirs; but if the secrets of my heart were laid open, they who are favorable to me, would not think me much better than the worst of them.” pp. 430
We easily forget that much of our sin is hidden from the eyes of others, yet it is still evil. In the unspectacular sci-fi movie Chaos Walking, the thoughts of men (not women) were visible to others. There were no secrets in their society (the women had been killed). We would live in a constant state of fear. Well… our thoughts and desires are not hidden from God. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
“Well, when we have said all we can of the aboundings of sin in us, grace still abounds in Jesus. We cannot be so evil as he is good. His power is a good match for our weakness; his riches for our poverty; his mercy for our misery. We are vile in ourselves, but we are complete in him. In ourselves we have cause to be abased, but in him we may rejoice. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ.” pp. 430
Newton points us back to Christ for hope, for assurance. Newton, in this hymn, reminds us that the road to maturity is not easy. God is not concerned with our comfort but rather our conformity to Christ.
14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” Mark 8:14-21 (ESV)
A a recent planning session we spent some time to meditate on this passage. Some of our thoughts reflected the previous few verses as the Pharisees pressed Jesus for more signs.
The disciples were living in the now- they didn’t plan ahead.
Focused on their physical not spiritual needs.
They bickered among themselves instead of talking to Jesus.
Avoid the spiritual corruption of the Pharisees and Herod (no direct connection here for Herod).
Both Pharisees and Herod were shaped by their unbelief.
Pharisees: harassed Jesus, legalistic
Herod: ignored Jesus, license
The disciples were shaped by unbelief too:
Focused on trivial matters.
They forgot they were not alone.
Forgot His abundant provision in the recent past.
Fear they wouldn’t have enough.
Their eyes didn’t see, ears didn’t hear and hearts were hard (Is. 6).
Present need blots out past faithfulness: spiritual amnesia.
Don’t forget what you have learned.
Understand:
Who Jesus is.
He loves us.
He had compassion on the crowds- how much more for us.
We focus on the world (Pharisees & Herod) and the flesh (appetites) to our own detriment. Yet many church conflicts are the result of bickering over our appetites or preferences.
21 At that time he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure. Luke 10 (CSB)
Here we unexpectedly see the Trinity. The Son rejoicing in the Father’s goodness in or through the Spirit. The Spirit gives joy to Jesus. The Father revealing Truth to His children.
Jesus calls His disciples the Father’s little children (NIV), or infants (CSB).
Jesus’ joy is for others- the Father’s gracious work in revealing hidden truths to His children.
Our joy also rests in the hidden work of the Father and Spirit in us. Mason focuses on “hidden”. What brings us joy is often hidden from us, for we know not ourselves as we ought. He seems to miss the point found in the larger context. It isn’t that the source of joy was hidden, but that the truth was hidden.
Yes, we can look for joy in the wrong places. God must reveal true joy and ourselves to us. The Spirit will give us joy in unexpected truths and this is a window to who we really are. Pull that thread, follow that trail of self-discovery.
This could be misinterpreted, particularly in the age of self-expression and self-actualization.
The point rather ought to be discovering what God says about us in Christ. We discover our new identity and see our old one as now false.
Photo by Konstantin Postumitenko
Stop and ponder. Jesus was dependent on the Spirit for this joy. The Spirit moved Him, even as He also illuminated the disciples in fulfillment of the Father’s will.
Jesus rejoiced in the fact that the disciples had truth revealed to them. He rejoiced that the Father hide the truth from the proud and self-dependent.
The Father was pleased to do this. He delighted in revealing the truth to His children.
Stop and think.
It is the good pleasure of the Father fulfilled when the Spirit opens your eyes to truth. Jesus rejoices, just as He did then, when the Father takes hidden things and makes them known to you.
Do we? Do we join them in delighting in the truths made known to us? They want us to.
While on vacation this summer, CavWife and I heard an interview with Miranda Devine concerning the on-going Hunter Biden saga which also (by law) affects the President in an influence peddling scheme. Many claim that there isn’t “hard evidence” of him taking a bribe.
As a result she bought me Laptop from Hell by New York Post investigative journalist Miranda Devine. There don’t seem to be many investigative journalists these days, sadly.
Laptop from Hell is not the story about the laptop, aside from a chapter which is now out of date. This is primarily about the story the laptop tells. Yes, it speaks of his addictions. Plural. It more importantly addresses his business dealings as found in emails on the laptop. It is a sad and sordid story. Unlike Rep. Swalwell’s claim, this is not about the photos Hunter has on the laptop, it’s about the evidence of patterns of corruption.
“At its heart, this is the story of a son of political privilege tormented by the defining tragedy of his childhood.” pp. vii
She fills it out with some background information on both Hunter and Joe among others.
Devine, while telling a compelling story, does not tell it in linear fashion. This is only mildly frustrating.
AFP/Getty Images
She lays out a compelling story of crime and corruption that goes beyond unpaid taxes and lying on his background check for a handgun. Contrary to statements by talking heads, the press secretary and those implicated, there certainly seems to be more than enough evidence. Some people just aren’t paying attention. Don’t want to see.
Excuse after excuse used by the candidate, nominee and now President and his administration has been discredited. It’s not a Russian operation. It has been verified. It HAD been verified before it went public. The intelligence experts lied. On and on it goes.
Her introduction is about the October Surprise which was smothered in social media. She lays out where she is going and what we should expect to see as the book progresses. She pulls back the curtain on “the Biden family business.”
“The conclusion is inescapable. The president cannot extricate his family’s money-making schemes from America’s foreign policy imperative.” pp. xiii
The AddictSon
The story begins as the smartest man the President knows had been binging on crack cocaine for 6 weeks in May of 2018. He was staying in the $820/night garden cottage a stone’s throw from where John Belushi died at the Chateau Marmount. Hookers and dealers arrived around the clock to satisfy his addictions. He’d just finished some business with CEFC months after his partner, Chairman Ye had disappeared in Shanghai.
Bills have been piling up, and his uncle Jim kept calling for money to pay them. He wired Jim $99,000. His bank statement shows a $2 million debit from March. He circles it, writes “What???” and takes a picture before contacting “Yanna” for some fun. She wants to be paid but his cards aren’t working and he can’t transfer money. He finds the fraud detection alert. While he sleeps, his accounts are emptied as those failed charges suddenly go through. Soon 2 Secret Service agents show up looking for him. Except one of them had retired 3 weeks earlier. After a few text exchanges, Hunter agrees to come to the lobby. But doesn’t. “Rob” goes up. It’s time to go home and see Dad.
Quid Pro Quo Joe
She relates how Biden, while on the Judiciary Committee blocked asbestos litigation reform benefiting one of his biggest donors, Jeff Cooper (she cites Paul Sperry’s RealClearInvestigations report). When Biden became VP, Hunter joined the board of Cooper’s Eudora Global for about $80,000/year.
This is not an anomaly. Dad’s connections provided Hunter with lots of work, and money: “counsel” for Boles Schiller Flexner LLP for $216,000/year, $1 million from SimmonsCooper to run a hedge fund with Uncle Jim and more. Initially these high-paying jobs paid off Hunter and Beau’s student loans. “Dad never paid a dime.”
She provides many examples of his angry missives to those who won’t do as he wants. She relates how Uncle Jim often has to smooth out things between Joe and Hunter.
Chapters are devoted to his marriage to Kathleen, his affair with his newly-widowed sister-in-law, divorce from Kathleen in 2016, the tumultuous relationship with Haille the sister-in-law, and his unacknowledged daughter by Lunden Alexis Roberts. His relationships were all train wrecks.
Devine then goes back in time in The Delaware Way recounting how “Joe leveraged a quid pro quo system of cronyism and trading favors for political influence which has come to be knows as the “Delaware Way.” In 2011, wealthy donor Chris Tigani took a plea on corrupt campaign donations. Beau Biden was the Delaware AG at the time, and recused himself from the case. The acting Delaware US attorney who took over the case? David Weiss. Yes, THAT David Weiss (pp. 41).
One of Biden’s most common tactics is the sympathy card. You’ve heard it recently: his son’s an addict, he’s just a loving father. He also used it in his debate with Trump. This is just the latest, but they often twist the facts as he has an unstable relationship with the truth. He invokes the accident that took the life of his wife and daughter. She ran a stop sign, but after the other driver died Biden began to say the man was drunk, much to his family’s dismay (see pp. 61-62). He used that tragedy immediately, being sworn in before the cameras with his hospitalized sons in the background. He brings up Beau’s death, but has claimed he died in the Middle East instead of from cancer here in the states.
Back to the Delaware Way. Daniel Golden documents how Hunter got into Yale Law School after President Clinton made a call on his behalf. It didn’t happen immediately, Hunter had to transfer from Georgetown the next year because he didn’t meet Yale’s admissions standards. Hunter received advice from President Calabresi. Amazingly, Clinton nominated Calabresi to the US Court of Appeals thru Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman … Joe Biden.
Devine relates Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran’s claim that a union-organized newspaper strike blocked a Boggs campaign ad which possibly swayed the election to Biden’s favor to get his first win. Sounds like how the truth of the laptop helped secure his presidential victory.
A newly elected senator making $44,600/year was able to buy the 10,000 square foot Du Pont mansion in 1975 for $185,000. He sold it for $1.2 million in 1996 to John Cochran, VP of MBNA who gave Hunter his first job. He then bought 4 acres of land from donor Ken Stoltz for the same $350k Stoltz had paid for it 5 years earlier. To build, Joe took out a $400k construction loan with Beneficial National Bank whose executives made major contributions. These executive advocated for bankruptcy reforms (to the disadvantage of the consumer) which were supported by Biden as chair of the Senate Judicial Committee.
And it goes on and on.
Back to Scraton but Not Dunder Mifflin
She proceeds to Joe’s backstory. Joe Sr. was a dreamer and teller of tall tales. The apple didn’t fall far on that one. Joe Jr. “would romanticize his father’s early life.” In reality, when Jr. was 6 his family was broke and moved in with his mother’s family in Scranton. After getting a job selling cars the family moved to Wilmington, DE. Members of the family have called Sr. an “old school 1930’s alcoholic”. Joe Jr. refuses to admit this. As the child of an alcoholic he was also bullied, stuttered and struggled with spelling and punctuation. He claimed to stop stuttering by reading JFK’s speeches in front of the mirror.
He constructed a mythical persona full of tall tales of derring-do, exaggerations, and outright lies about his accomplishments. He lied about nonexistent academic awards and scholarships. He plagiarized speeches willy-nilly, and in one infamous case, appropriated the personal life story of British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, pretending that he, too, was descended from coal miners and was the first in his family to get a college degree… .” pp. 58-59
He actually seems to believe his lies. He’s always the hero. When challenged he rages like in this 1988 exchange in NH (wrongly given as 1987 in the book).
The Wound that Won’t Heal
When his mother died, Hunter was largely raised by his aunt Val until Joe married Jill (she doesn’t address the allegations of an affair with Joe prior to her divorce and Neilia’s death). Hunter, often sent to the Finger Lakes region of NY in the summer, felt abandoned by his busy father. His mother died, and then he was separated from his aunt and grandmother. Hunter felt Jill loved Beau more. Beau was the most important person in Hunter’s life. His death unbalanced Hunter.
The Grifters
The extended family has problems too. Hunter’s cousin Caroline is also an addict. She’s also gotten off easy due to the Biden name. For grand larceny and assaulting a police officer the charges were dropped when she agreed to anger management. Five years later she got 2 years probation. She was arrested a year later for DUI after crashing into a tree. She got rehab and 5 months probation.
“While Joe Biden waged war on white privilege from the White House, his own family was the living embodiment of the worst of it.” pp. 72
Cousins Missy and Casey reached out to Hunter for a job for Aunt Val. Hunter’s Mr. Fix-It, Eric Schwerin, had gotten an Obama appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad (what is that??). Aunt Val got a four-month stint for an ceremonial UN role paying $26,000/month. When that ended, Schwerin contacted Hunter with two new opportunities that paid $12,500/month. One was with the Biden Foundation (they needed Eric for that?) and one with the University of Delaware.
Joe’s brother Frank, like Hunter isn’t actually a lawyer. But he has a job with a FL law firm that pays him as an adviser. When Joe was VP he and his wife were frequent guests at state department dinners to make connections. Frank had a string of DUIs and was arrested for petty theft.
In 2009 he worked on real estate and casino deals in Costa Rica. Joe was the point man for the Obama Administration in Latin America. Just a coincidence, obviously.
“Every great family is persecuted … you are part of a great family- not a side show, not deserted by them even in your darkest moments. That’s the way the Bidens are different, and you are a Biden. It’s the price of power and the people questioning you truly have none.” Hunter to Devon Archer after his arrest, pp. 75
Lies Exposed
“I’ve never spoken to my son about his overseas business.” Joe Biden, 2019
NY Post: with business partners from Kazakhstan
Devine recounts a meeting between Hunter and his business associates at the Bidens’ favorite hangout, Cafe Milano. In April 2016, Hunter arranged a dinner in a private room with benefactors from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia for a three-fer. The next day one of the Burisma executives emailed Hunter thanking him for introducing them to his father that night. Hunter had earlier told Michael Karloutsos that Joe would be there but to keep it between them.
Why the subterfuge? The “White House counsel had begun to put up roadblocks.” This has been mentioned in other contexts, particularly in connection with Burisma. This means they knew, did not hold him accountable but only tried to limit opportunities and/or manage appearances.
This was by no means the only such meeting. Devine recounts a 2015 meeting at the Naval Observatory with Mexican millionaire Carlos Slim, tycoon Miguel Alaman Velasco and his son Migues Aleman Magnani. Hunter and Jeff Cooper were working on Mexican energy deals. Five photographs from that breakfast appear on Hunter’s laptop.
Devine moves to the Burisma situation. Hunter received $86,000/month to serve on the board. Biden has publicly bragged about getting the Ukrainian AG investigating Burisma fired. He claimed he was corrupt, but documents reveal that the AG received high marks from our State Department, approving the $6 billion loan that Biden held hostage. Trying to get details of this led to Trump’s first impeachment. The state department also expressed concern over the connection with Zlochevsky, who was forbidden from entering the states.
Chi-na
The largest section of the book details the deal with China. She explains how the system of cronyism worked to enrich the princelings. These are the children of the the original communist heroes who developed an elaborate system to enrich themselves and their families.
Joe championed China’s entry into the WTO. That didn’t work out well for American workers. China has not loosened its reins on the people, but have used or technology to tighten them.
“The soaring trade deficit with China over the previous two decades had transferred the wealth of America’s middle-class to China’s “red families” and bankrolled a global buying spree geared around its national ambitions.” pp. 118
While Joe returned home from China empty-handed, Hunter did not. He had his first deal in the Bohai Harvest Rosemont partnership. Hunter admitted to the New Yorker that his father met his partner Jonathan Li. Joe later wrote a letter of recommendation to Brown for Li’s son. Keep in mind that Joe had the lead on China policy. VP Biden had the lead for policy in the nation’s Biden’s deals took place: Costa Rica, Mexico, Ukraine and China. Not just a strange coincidence.
The deal with Jonathan Li took some twists and turns. China wanted to use Biden to further is Five-Year Plan of 2011 for “cross-border investments in food companies, agriculture, seeds, and agri-chemicals.” No surprise they buy up U.S. farmland and food processing companies. The CEFC deal with Jonathan Li was focused on energy alternatives. Xi’s purges made things difficult, and eventually ended the deal. The deal Hunter hoped would end all his financial issues didn’t pay off as expected, bringing us back to the beginning.
Devine closes the book with the story of Hunter forgetting about his laptops, and refusing to pay or pick them up in 2019. By virtue of the contract signed, they became property of the store owner. During the impeachment hearings, Mac Isaac recognized the name Burisma from some of the laptop files and contacted the FBI. On December 9, 2019 two FBI agents showed up to collect the laptop. They would return for some help since their tech guy “didn’t do Macs.” (Incredulous) In January 2020 with the Senate trial going on, Isaac wondered why there was no mention of the laptop containing the information that could show what Trump was trying to prove.
In February he contacted Jim Jordan and Lindsey Graham, among others, to no avail. At the end of August he reached out to Rudi Gulliani after seeing him on TV. Isaac still had the external hard drive used to retrieve the contents of the laptop. Gulliani gave it to his attorney, Bob Costello, who did a forensic deep dive. Five weeks before the election, NY Post reporter Emma-Jo Morris saw some of the emails. The Post shilly-shallied until Costello reached out to Miranda Devine (why not start there?) and the rest, as they say, is history.
Social media began to throttle the story. The denial tactics were in full force. The veracity of the contents of the hard drive was hidden from the soon-to-be-voting public. Yes, election interference. But it was too late and the new DOJ slow tracked just about everything connected to the Bidens according to whistleblowers.
People have to ask: who do I believe? Do you believe the Administration whose claims are repeatedly proven false, and who keep changing their story? Or do you believe the consistent stories of the laptop, whistleblowers, ex-business partners etc.? Are you sick of being lied to, the true misinformation?
11 Light dawns for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm 97 (CSB)
It’s only “in Your light (that) we see the light.” We are dependent upon You to see the joy too. Yet we must look for it- often diligently at times: “great revelation may lie hidden in uncertainty, exhaustion, despair.”
Mason’s experiment was partially encouraged by photographer Jim Brandenburg who took only 1 picture a day for 90 days (documented in Chased by the Light). At times JB didn’t take good photos in the hope of a great photo. Trust.
When Mason struggles to find joy he notes: “I seek to locate in it (the day) the one moment that holds the most joy… By nourishing one ray of joy like a seedling, joy takes root in me an grows and grows until it fills my heart.” Sometimes we must be more thoughtful, searching the day for that “one good moment” and meditate, fixate upon it
My list from GA:
Monday: my Lyft ride with Kelly, talking to our driver Darius
Tuesday: lunch with Dolan
Wed: beers with Danny, Morgan and Jennifer
Thurs: lunch w/the Pekarys
Fri: lunch with Chris and browsing books together
Sat: hearing Probst has a new f/t job
One aspect of GA I don’t like is the busyness- the lack of time to think, to process, be thoughtful, prayerful. Meetings, seminars, busy exhibit halls, old friends, good friends, meals … There is the walk each day but you need situational awareness, particularly in Memphis. It is all like a trip to Vanity Faire.
And so I return- hollowed out, clinging to what I read in my devotional, grasping for bits in the sermons, frazzled by traveling with its delays, rush and boredom.
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. James 1 (CSB)
Everyone has problems. Not all people find joy and work through their problems.
Consider- reason, think through. These thoughts are not natural. The joy isn’t natural or easy. It is tied to the end result- perseverance. In Romans 5 it is character and hope. God is at work in trials to both change us and to give us joy.
When I am miserable in trials I’ve lost sight of that. I’m not living by grace, by faith, but by sight. I have a legal spirit which says, “God doesn’t like me.” Makes sense, lots of people don’t like me.
“As simpleheaded as it sounds, a complicated view of life does not produce joy.” Mason
Ignorance can be bliss. The less you know the better you sleep at night (a Russian proverb, apparently).
Simplify it- identify the problem and address what you can and trust God with what you can’t.
Oddly, he refers to The Road Less Traveled– “Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them?” That’s the simplicity. Mason sees such unhappiness as a “form of pouting” and pouting isn’t solving. It keeps us from solving. It keeps us from joy.
This speaks to the victim mentality so popular today. As long as we complain about x, and possibly rage about it (rioting), we aren’t really solving it but creating new problems. Rage, a work of the flesh (Gal. 5), doesn’t resolve our difficult circumstances. It just adds to our emotional unhealth.
We need to move past the anger, the complaining. We need to begin to analyze our problem. What truth do we need to embrace in the mist of this? How do I contribute to the problem, and therefore need to change? What circumstances do I have the ability to change, and which are beyond me?
Joy will be found in the repenting, the changing, the decision making. That doesn’t mean it will be simple or easy. Trusting with the things you can’t change is not natural, we want to be in control. Joy comes in realizing we don’t need to carry that burden. We are prone to taking it back. Faith keeps giving it back.
I need to keep returning to Newton’s application of Romans 8:28. I surmise you are like me.
One of his less famous hymns is “I Asked the Lord that I Might Grow”. God answered with trials to transform. We’d do well to remember this wisdom from Newton.
111 I have your decrees as a heritage forever; indeed, they are the joy of my heart. Psalm 119 (CSB)
His focus today is not on God’s revealed will- the decrees, statutes (NIV) or law as in the text- but the will of decree, the secret things. These and our relationship or response to them impact our joy profoundly.
Back to Brother Lawrence who was happy though or because he didn’t know God’s plans for him.
“For most people, not knowing God’s plans is a source of anxiety … He was happy no matter what the Lord might do.” Mason
Joy requires forsaking all our doubts about God. Forsaking skepticism, suspicion and more. Giving up our legal spirit.
“We must choose to worship Him flat out, celebrating His righteousness and justice. By doing whatever it takes to elevate God above ourselves, we tap into the wellspring of life.” Mason
So, he finds common sense to be an enemy of joy for it conflicts with embracing God’s mysterious ways.
This morning (6/6) Sibbes discussed Paul’s journey to contentment. Ferguson, again, believed it was his covetousness of Stephen’s gift that revealed he was a sinner (Rom. 7). So God taught him contentment in Christ, through plenty and want. He had to say “Whate’er God Ordains Is Right” to find contentment AND joy.
Back to Mason- “Instead of worrying, I let God be right for not intervening.” Oh, yes. So often You have not intervened, for good reason unknown to me. My cursed curiosity and love of comfort do me in. Joy lets God be God, and rejoices no matter what it means in the present and short-term.
I keep looking at my wrist and there is nothing there.
Years ago CavWife gave me a Fitbit for Father’s Day. It was one of the early Fitbits that went on your belt. She thought it would either be the best or worst gift ever.
I’m not sure it the best gift but it was certainly an effective gift. I learned that I was a listless slog. I didn’t move nearly enough.
I began to get more exercise. I wore out the first Fitbit. With the Fitbit Alta I wore out a number of wristbands. It was great to be able to read texts on the Fitbit. Over time that became inconsistent (much to my wife’s consternation when I didn’t see a text she sent).
Eventually the battery became a problem. At first I only had to charge it once a week. More recently I had to charge it each morning while I showered and dressed. Once a week or so it needed an additional charge for about 30 minutes.
It would “die” when the battery got below about 50%. It was increasingly unreliable, Of course it would “die” most often while working out so I would not get “credit” for my steps.
Before it revealed that I was a slug. Now it revealed aspects of my Pharisaical heart.
There was a shift that took place within me that I was increasingly uncomfortable with but unwilling to change. I became very concerned about getting my 10k each day (except on Sunday). I wanted to bank steps during the week to cover for the lack of steps on Sundays.
Wanting to get the steps is fine, but I’d get irritable if I couldn’t get them on a given day. It began to shape my day, not just my health. When it shut down, I’d be angry. It was irrational, really.
This is how our heart works too much of the time. Something optional, and good, twists into something necessary. The joy dissipates under the new burden of obligation. It happens imperceptibly. The desire to be healthy began to fade in importance to “getting the steps”.
Monday while I was on the elliptical trainer I went to check my steps. I’d charged it at work, but the charger there is broken and held together with rubber bands. It didn’t charge well and the battery got to low. It shut down in the middle of my workout. No credit for my hard work.
By the time I got home I’d made the decision. I tossed the Fitbit on the counter and haven’t touched it. I keep wanting to check the time but it’s not there.
I’ve been here before, so to speak. I stopped wearing a watch decades ago. I figured there was a clock, or someone with a watch just about everywhere I would be. My watch battery died and that was it. It took awhile to stop looking for my watch on my wrist. But I did.
So, I feel naked now but eventually It will feel normal again.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Galatians 5 (CSB)
Mason finds the order important. I’m not sure. The greatest is love which drives and binds them all together (Col. 3).
“Love governs joy.” Mason
We can’t experience true joy unless we love others. Love also produces kindness and patience toward another. To the degree I lack them I fail to love. Likewise, “(j)oy exists in, and never out of, loving relationships.”
Lonely people lack joy. I am a lonely person! The painful realities of ministry have isolated me too much. So joy is hard to find because I am not with others and able to love them. The joyful times are those engaged with others.
He likens the fruit to a blackberry. Each “fruit” is distinct yet joined together as one, like the beads of the berry. They grow together unlike a pear. Same vine. Same fruit, same berry. Yes a good grasp of the gospel is necessary, as is the work of the Spirit. It is all a manifestation of love you neighbor: be kind, gentle, patient, faithful …. And all require sacrifice.
But none come apart from being loved that way by God in Christ.
13 Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. Isaiah 49 (CSB)
Joy ==> Rejoice ==> burst into song!
O heavens ==> O earth ==> O mountains
Immovable things in creation. Why will creation break out and sing with joy?
God’s comfort and compassion (steadfast love?) upon His afflicted people! Compassion produces
Mason’s experiment in joy found him experiencing greater conflict in marriage. She grew miserable, increasingly dour, anxious and said. She wouldn’t/couldn’t move toward joy (with him).
There was a family problem she could not resolve. She was afflicted. He was blind, he could not see. Often, we don’t/can’t see other’s affliction.
“All spirituality must be normalized and validated in relationships.” Mason
Joy must be lived in our relationships by loving others. That love produces compassion which will produce joy. False spirituality avoids their suffering in the quest for joy. We don’t seal ourselves off, but enter their affliction, encounter it with compassion and comfort.
“Joy can remain joyful ans still feel sorrow for the whole world.” Mason
If we remember we are concerned, not responsible for the world and responsible, not merely concerned for ourselves and our actions.
“Our own cheerfulness increases as our growth increases.” Sibbes (5/31)
As our grace and glory increase, so will our joy.
Note a future aspect of compassion. There is the perfect “has comforted” and future “will have compassion”. We can trust future compassion for present affliction because of prior comfort for previous affliction. Has God comforted you before? As the God of all comfort we can be sure He will again. Though there is sorrow in present affliction there will be joy in future compassion. The present isn’t the future.
Princess Bride: The Machine
We tend to extend the present into the future as if nothing will change and “the suck”, as an elder called it, will be until we die. We think the affliction will continue to suck the life out of us not just for days or weeks but years to come.
“The suck” is temporary. We must recognize that though it may seem interminable. We all have bad years. 2020 began with my mother’s stroke and death and then slide into Covid madness and election insanity that continued into 2021 until I got Covid, then a number of members did while there was personal conflict, some members gone astray and my father nearly died. “The suck” continued as members left in groups in 2020 and 2021.
It didn’t last. Compassion came around summer of 2023. “The suck” doesn’t feel light and momentary but from the perspective of eternity and glory it gains for us it actually is.
You need to trust that “the suck” will end. You need to trust that compassion will come. This is why we can count it all joy now when when we are stuck in “the suck”.
Volume 1 of The Works of John Owen contains Meditations on the Glory of Christ. This volume was edited for length and appears in the Puritan Paperback series as The Glory of Christ. It is a Puritan classic.
Knowing Christ by Mark Jones is not a Modern English version of The Glory of Christ. Owen’s books is certainly an inspiration and model for his book. In fact, on the last page of the book Jones writes:
“Apart from Christ, John Owen is perhaps the greatest hero of this book and the most influential- outside the pages of Scripture- in my theology of Christ.“
The book ends with a lengthy quotation from Owen. I particularly like this portion, “… virtue will proceed from him to repair all our decays, to renew a right spirit within us, and to cause us to abound in all duties of obedience.” This is an echo of 2 Corinthians 3:18.
The title of the book is also a nod to J.I. Packer’s classic volume Knowing God. Packer provides the forward to this book. Packer drank deep from the Puritans.
“To put is pictorially, souls are small in the modern Western world, and we have less of an appetite for this kind of nourishment than our spiritual health actually requires.” J. I. Packer
John Owen
Jones is a student of the Puritans, not just John Owen. This volume is filled with quotes by the Puritans (like Flavel, Manton, Sibbes and others) as well as early Church Fathers. Jones looks primarily to the past for wisdom. This is one of the benefits of the book.
The chapters are not very lengthy, generally 6-8 pages, and can be read in about 30 minutes. Not a surface level devotional book. It provides healthy doses of 27 aspects of the person and work of Christ. He doesn’t try to say all that can be said but is trying to edify his readers.
The first chapter is Christ’s Declaration which sets the stage for the rest of the book. That declaration is that eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn. 17:3). As Jones says in the latter portions of the book, we will learn more about Christ all through eternity. We are to know Christ as much as we can in this life.
“Knowing him is apprehending his person and works as revealed in the Scriptures.”
He brings us to the Shema and the Greatest Commandment. Knowing Christ engages not just our thinking but our feelings and will. We will develop religious affections and grow in obedience as a result.
In his chapter on the dignity of Christ he points to preeminence of Christ from Colossians. He is the center of God’s glory. We were made by Him and for Him. Jones also addresses why the Son came. The Son bestows His Sonship upon those He saves through His union with them.
Jones continues with the eternal nature of the Son: the Covenant of Redemption. He rejects the Eternal Submission/Subordination of the Son. He affirms the submission of the Son as Messiah for the salvation of His promised people aka the economic Trinity.
He moves into chapters on the incarnation, Christ’s divinity and humanity. His chapter on Christ’s Companion, the Spirit, is important to remember Jesus lived in dependence on the Spirit like we are to as well. This begins some chapters dealing with His humanity: faith, emotions and growth. We tend not to think of Jesus needing to have faith. He also had to trust the Father’s promises, particularly to Him in the covenant of redemption. We also tend not to think about Christ reading the Scriptures. He learned who He was, and what would happen to Him, by reading the Scriptures. The Spirit worked so Jesus realized He was the One spoken of.
Jones then addresses Christ’s work for us including miracles, the sinlessness of Christ and experience of temptation, humiliation and death. There is a chapter on the sayings of Christ on the cross. There are also chapters on His exaltation: resurrection and ascension. There are chapters on Christ’s intercession as well as His wrath.
“No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter, who does not in some measure behold it by faith here in this world.” John Owen
He concludes with Christ’s names and offices.
This is a rich book that should encourage you in your walk with Christ by helping you to know more about Christ and what He has done. As I noted, these are good portions. You won’t be overwhelmed by the material. It is well organized. He doesn’t focus on the abstract but the applicable. This makes Knowing Christ well worth reading. There is a study guide in the back to make this useful for groups. The reading won’t tax the non-readers in a group but allow for meaningful conversation to know Christ and His grace better.
22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17 (CSB)
Mason wondered how joy affected health. It was a medicine, not a cure. It bouys our spirits in times of illness.
“Joy feels different in a body weakened by disease.” Mason
The joy of the Lord strengthens us in times of weakness but does not cure us. there is no place for triumphalism: we all die! We all get sick, no matter the strength of our faith. Illness finds us all; make no idol of health.
But there is still joy there. To obsess about health is unhealthy.
Whatever our condition, when we are happy we function better both physically and spiritually. We’re more alert, productive and helpful to others.
Misery in the heart is like sugar or bad gas in the tank. You won’t get far.
We don’t think much of the effects of a broken spirit on the body. Dries up the bones? Withered. We shrivel up and die. Our bones become weak and can’t support us.
A broken spirit robs us of life and vitality. Joy is the medicine we need to help heal a broken spirit.
Take your medicine! Find a sitcom you love in a streaming service, or buy the DVDs. Or a movie guaranteed to make you laugh. Watch, laugh. Move toward joy.
The other day on FB I saw some charts indicating the increased risk of various diseases and neurological conditions among those who were vaccinated with the standard vaccines during childhood.
In the Abstract and Introduction of the study, it notes the benefits of vaccinations.
“Vaccinations have prevented millions of infectious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths among U.S. children, yet the long-term health outcomes of the vaccination schedule remain uncertain. … Vaccines are among the greatest achievements of biomedical science and one of the most effective public health interventions of the 20th century. Among U.S. children born between 1995 and 2013, vaccination is estimated to have prevented 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 premature deaths, with overall cost savings of $1.38 trillion.”
These are positive goods. Real benefit. The estimates are just that, estimates. This should not be denied. These children didn’t get these diseases some of which are life changing and/or life threatening.
The study was done among home school children in Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and Missouri. Mothers filled in the survey. They were from different parts of the country (though not the NE an SW). They are looking for possible longer term side effects. VAERS focuses on the short-term “adverse effects” of a vaccination. Home schoolers were used because they are one of the few populations of unvaccinated kids needed to compare the health of the two groups.
Library of Congress
I was vaccinated as a child. I recall them lining us up in elementary school to get our boosters. Some of us have the scar from the “gun” used. Some of my classmates walked away with blood on their arms. Other than that I don’t recall any “adverse effects.” But I was a kid.
My kids are vaccinated. We spread them out, contrary to recommendations. We didn’t want them to get too many at one time. Despite this, one of our children had an “adverse effect” after a shot. She had a fever and headache the next day. We reported it to our pediatrician so hopefully it found itself into VAERS.
They note that this comparison of vaccinated and unvaccinated children was important because many health care professionals have pointed to increased screening methods to explain the increases in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders such as learning disabilities, ADHD and autism.
They looked at infection rate differences for chickenpox, otitis media, whooping cough, Rubella and pneumonia among those vaccinated and unvaccinated. You were significantly more likely to get chickenpox if unvaccinated (8% versus 25%, rounded). But for Rubella the difference was .3% vs. 2% (rounded). Whooping cough rates were 3% vs. 8%. So, more likely to get sick if not vaccinated. But for pneumonia and Otitis media you were more likely to get the disease if you were vaccinated (6% vs. 1% and 20% vs. 6% respectively). (see Table 2)
The infection rates are generally low because vaccinations have reduced the general spread of infection. Since fewer people are infected you are less likely to be exposed to it and be infected whether or not you personally were vaccinated.
When you get to Chronic illnesses (Table 3) there is a big difference between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, in favor of the unvaccinated. Allergic rhinitis (10% vs. .4%), allergies (22% vs 7%), ADHD (5% vs. 1%), Eczema (10% vs. 4%), learning disability (6% vs. 1%), any chronic condition (44% vs. 25%). These are significant!
The same holds true for the partially vaccinated compared to the unvaccinated.
Was my ADD or my kids’ ADHD (as least 2 of them) cause by vaccines? I don’t know. There may be a genetic link at work in some of us. But we’ll never understand all of this unless we begin to study it. We don’t need to be alarmists, and we should not bury our heads in the sand.
I’m not writing this to argue against vaccinations. I’m not anti-vaxx. I am pro-informed consent! We should give parents the blessing and the curse of vaccinations so they can choose. In a largely vaccinated society they are more likely to have an increased risk of NDDs, learning disabilities and allergies than of getting the disease for which they are being vaccinated.
The pilot study does not claim to be the final word on this matter. It indicates that it bears further and more extensive study. Hopefully this will get the ball rolling.
We don’t live in a binary world where something or someone is good or bad, period. The Ten Commandments let us know what is bad, period. We live in a complex and fallen world where technology has blessings and curses. Good effect and bad effects. These need to be weighed, and put in the context of the particular situation. It is not a one-size-fits-all world. What works for you may not work for others who have a different set of circumstances. Note, I’m not condemning anyone who gave their kids vaccines (like me) or those who made informed decisions not to vaccinate.
This new interview with Dr. Robert Malone (who holds patents on mRNA technology) is well worth your time in discussing informed consent and the new variants.
He notes in this interview that some of the older vaccines were grandfathered in so there is no actual data from studies regarding their short term or long term safety.
The bigger issue with regard to the Covid vaccines, from my perspective, is there is essentially no data. The drug companies have been forced to admit there is too much they don’t know about the short term and (obviously) long term effects of this new technology and these particular vaccines.
They are finally starting to do studies on the side effects they denied existed for over a year.
Whether or not you get the vaccine, do get healthier. He notes a British study that indicates that flu season coincides with times when people’s vitamin D levels are lower because they stay inside (yes, correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, but it can). Get your weight down and exercise (stress wrecks your immune system- hello fear!). You should also get early treatment, which so many of my friends were denied in 2021.
Informed consent should include benefits, risks and alternatives. That is good medicine. Stirring up fear, reducing/eliminating alternatives and pretending there are not risks is malpractice.
6 Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord. Psalm 27 (CSB)
Once again I expanded the context of the passage Mason referred to. He only included 6b, neglecting the context of exaltation here. There has been victory over adversaries, as well as the humble seeking of God.
Mason begins:
“Joy is free but it is not cheap … If I’m not joyful, something is standing between me and joy.”
He frames this in sacrifice, but we could call it self-denial. We have to lay aside our goals and agendas that keep us from joy. It may be sin like pride and anger. It may be a demand that our circumstances change (when I’m married, or pregnant, or have a job that is dignified…). We must see that this keeps us from joy!
The Psalms, as he says, are full of trouble but end in joy. Worship should result in joy (as in this Psalm) or it lacks the promise of God to believe. Worship is the sacrifice of praise- joy (Heb. 13:15).
Christ, through His shed blood made the sacrifice that purchases joy. We only ‘sacrifice’ what stands in the way of joy. We deny ourselves our inordinate, ungovernable desires, even of good things.
“For years I went around expecting God to be nice to me and wondering why He wasn’t. … He’s nice to you anyway, but without joy you won’t notice it.” Mason
Fear, sorrow, anger, anxiety, depression, covetousness etc. blind us to God’s goodness to us. Joy opens our eyes to see!
As I look back, this was one of the more important things that turned the corner for me. I had to let God be God and me be me. And I’m not God. I had to let go of my demands and expectations because they were like a millstone around my neck plunging me deeper into the sea of depression.
Here is yesterday’s sermon on covetousness. I don’t speak directly of joy but I do speak of our contentment in Christ and His present provision even if it isn’t what we hoped for or want. It begins around the 20 minute mark of the service.
7 Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy 9 before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly. Psalm 98 (CSB)
I expanded the quote. Mason only included verse 8 so we don’t quite see why creation sings.
Creation rejoices despite having no hands or mouths. It groans now (Rom. 8) and yet it rejoices in God’s works of creation and redemption. It will really let loose, as here, in the removal of the curse, when it is no longer subject to futility because Jesus has returned and judged the world righteously and fairly. We, who are in Christ, will rejoice with all the rest of creation.
I didn’t quite appreciate Mason’s odd story, but …
His better story/illustration was body surfing. The waves keep coming. When you catch one right you feel the power of the wave and can be moved a great distance.
“There is no shortage of joy- it’s like waves rolling in, one after another- but you have to catch them.” Mason
That is the unpredictable part- which wave will you catch right and how far it will take you. Therefore, “By its very nature joy is full of surprises.”
He’s unveiling the paradox: “While I can deliberately plan and choose to be joyful, I can never plan exactly how joy will happen.” You have to be in the water, but you don’t decide which wave will carry you.
Cavman Considers 