We Strive, He Provides

   I just finished reading Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper (the Kindle version is on sale for $2.99 at Amazon by the way).  In this book, Dr. Piper centers his thesis around two passages of Scripture:  2 Timothy 2:7, "Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." and Proverbs 2:1-6, which basically boils down to "If you ... raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver ... then you will ... find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding".  His point is that we as Christians should be making intellectual effort; we should be thinking.  And the reason given for this is that God gives understanding and wisdom.  It is essential that we do the effort of thinking, but it is God who gives the knowledge.  In Dr. Piper's words, "They go together - our seeking understanding and God's giving it.  Seeking it like silver is essential to finding.  But finding is a gift of God".
   It strikes me that this same principle applies in the question of sanctification.  We often discuss whether we should be making effort in our sanctification, or if it is God who produces holiness in us.  It seems to me the answer to this question is "yes".  We should be making an effort in our own sanctification and the reason, at least in part, is that God provides growth in holiness.  This principle is portrayed in Philippians 2:12b-13: "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."  The latter part of verse 12 here, "work out your own salvation" is referring to our effort in sanctification; striving to produce character and outward behavior in consonance with our already achieved salvation.  The "for" that I have underlined gives the reason for this effort just as it does in 2 Timothy 2 and Proverbs 2.  The reason given is that God works in us both to produce the will to work and the work itself.  The "for his good pleasure" clause could be taken as referring either to God's work in us or to our work.  I think both are appropriate.  It pleases God to work in us; and, our work in sanctification should be to please him.
   So, they go together - our striving for holiness, and God's giving it.  Working for holiness is essential to growing in it.  But, growing in it is a gift of God.

Unbroken

I just finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is an outstanding book and I highly recommend it to anyone.  It is the story of Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner, Army Air Corps bombardier in WWII and POW in Japan.    It is absolutely amazing what he went through after his plane crashed in the Pacific and then was picked up by the Japanese as a POW.  At times it was hard to read the horrific abuses that he suffered.  That made the joy all the more intense when he was finally liberated at the end of the war.  It was not very long, though, before his life nose-dived again as he dealt with the mental/emotional aftermath of his abuse as a POW.  As great as the joy was when he was physically liberated, it was even greater when he was spiritually set free by giving his life to Christ. 
It was interesting to note how his story followed a similar pattern to the nation of Israel.  He was set free from physical captivity by a great deliverance.  It was wonderful to be out of prison but he wasn't really free.  He was still oppressed in his mind and in his spirit.  It wasn't until Jesus Christ came into his life that he became truly free - free of sin and guilt and shame.  Ironically, the title is Unbroken, and appropriately so since he never broke mentally/emotionally under all the abuses as a POW.  But, it wasn't until he recognized his spiritual brokenness and trusted in Christ to put him together again that he was truly healed.

Impressions of Afghanistan

I am currently deployed in Afghanistan with the US Marine Corps.  In the context of my job I have the opportunity to travel a fair bit around a pretty wide area of southern Afghanistan.  These are just some of my impressions of the land and people, adapted from a newsletter I wrote for the families of my battalion:

This is a rugged and austere land.  The open desert is as dry and desolate a place as you will ever see.  There are very few plants – mostly a scrubby grass or a thorny plant somewhat like the bush in the United States that turns into tumbleweeds.  As you get closer to the river, though, green sprouts everywhere (at least this time of year) and some places can even look quite lush.  Although it is not widespread, beauty is possible to find if you look for it.  And, it is all the more noticeable for its humble surroundings.  There are vinyards scattered around here and there.  I think they grow grapes mainly for making raisins.  In two of the vinyards I saw during a convoy I went on just yesterday, there were small clusters of sunflowers; the yellow petals glowing brilliantly against the mud brick walls. 

The children, too, are (mostly) beautiful.  Generally their faces light up with a big smile and they wave or give the thumbs-up sign as we drive by.  Some of them are a bit rascally though and make obscene gestures (probably taught them by Marines on patrol).  Some even throw rocks.  I think it is their form of “trick-or-treat”.  They make signs asking us to throw them food or bottled water.  If we don’t, they throw rocks at our trucks.  If they can, some will also try to steal things off our trucks.  They seem to know just where to look and can get compartments open and the contents out in a split second.  Mostly, they are cute kids – tending flocks of sheep, playing, or swimming in the canal. 

The people live a hard life.  Most of what is around is rocks and dust the consistency of flour.  The people are geniuses with that dust.  Add a little water and bake it in the sun for a little and it turns into brick.  They build everything with it.  They even shape it into latticework and fancy arches.  They are also very good at irrigation.  Canals of every size criss-cross the landscape for about a mile or two on either side of the river.  They grow everything from grapes and corn to wheat and poppy.  There are some tractors around (the rich folk) but their farming methods are almost all by hand.  I have seen them plowing behind a donkey, sowing seed by hand and harvesting huge multi-acre fields of wheat with sickles. 

Vehicles are much more common here than we expected.  There are delivery trucks, pick-up trucks, vans and sedans.  Almost all of them are white (makes sense in this hot region I guess).  But, more common than anything are the little motorcycles that almost everyone seems to ride.  We have seen whole families of five on one motorbike: father, mother (in a burkha of course), and three kids ranging from infant/toddler to tween.  They ride these things without fear in and out of our convoys, through deep dust and gravel, and over narrow foot-bridges about 18 inches wide.  They get their gas at little road-side shacks with a 55-gallon drum out front and plastic jug and a funnel. 

It is an interesting country.  The people, for the most part, are just doing the best they can to make a living and provide for their families.  The efforts of all the Coalition Forces here are having an effect and are making things better.