December 26th, 2009 by drpuritan

Pray for Coach Urban Meyer’s health and for his spiritual condition, that he may know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by faith. Pray that gospel seed planted by Tim Tebow has borne/will bear eternal fruit for God’s glory and Coach Meyer’s good. We love you Coach; GO GATORS!

December 24th, 2009 by drpuritan

I write in something of a stupor, brought on by an incipient sinus infection, the rumbling of the laundry and occasional pain in my right fingers (o.k., I admit it, I should have listened to Dawn about the gloves when cleaning with bleachy water). I will spare my readers the photos, but these bleach burns HURT! My darling wife is visiting/delivering baked goodies to family along with my daughter Catherine. The rest of us are making final preparations for a big Christmas celebration with family and a dear friend tomorrow. Sipping hot coffee. Reveling in the sweet kindness of my Heavenly Father. I have received so many gifts of grace this year. I am experiencing an Ecclesiastes day of the “Life is really good” variety today. Merry Christmas! Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ this season and always. I can’t wait to worship with the RBC family this Sunday.

December 19th, 2009 by drpuritan

I have had two thoughts lately that I can’t get rid of. First, church members leave indelible marks, physically, on their pastors. The evidence for this is more anecdotal than scientific, but I believe it to be true. Either a white hair on his head (from a bitter spirit or complaining over preferences or habitual sin or persistence in unsound doctrine or a host of other violations of Hebrews 13:7, 17) or a smile wrinkle around his eyes (from your faithfulness in prayer or your godly witness or your enduring marriage or your pursuit of holiness or a host of other obedient applications of II Peter 3:18) will be left by you. Which will it be?

Second, I often shake my head in amazement at the unbelief of the nation of Israel in the Bible, in both Testaments, despite the OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE that God is faithful, that He is holy, that He provides, that He chastens. But what about my own doubts, fears, unbelief — IN SPITE OF THE EVIDENCE? God has been more faithful to me than I could recount in all eternity, and yet I DAILY fail to trust Him. In the words of the little known Sicilian theologian Vizzini, “INCONCEIVABLE!”

December 12th, 2009 by drpuritan

What can you learn in thirty minutes? That is about how long Dawn and I spent with Dr. Roger Nicole last Thursday, December 10, on his 94th birthday. In answer to the question, it depends on the person from whom you are learning! When one thinks of outstanding representatives of various spheres of endeavor, names like Tim Tebow, Michael Jordan, Winston Churchill, or Bill Gates might come to mind. In the realm of Christian theology (and this is truly amazing when it is remembered that two millennia of theologians are available from which to choose), my mind goes immediately to Roger Nicole. His mind is massive: begin talking about nearly any subject and he will have something to say; begin talking about any area of theology and he will have something to say — at length — that you did not know before. I want to just throw out some random thoughts about my most recent thirty minutes with Dr. Nicole:

*He is a TEACHER. At 94, he still loves to impart knowledge. Not because he wants to show off (his humility is known world-wide), but because it is who he is; Roger doesn’t just teach — he is a teacher, through and through.

*He is FUNNY. Being neither trendy nor old-fashioned, Roger is funny. We came into his room the other day and I heard what sounded like Spanish radio. No one else was in the room, so clearly this was Dr. Nicole’s choice. I thought, “Well, I know he knows several languages; maybe he is sharpening his Spanish.” It turned out to be the television, which was playing through the hospital-bed-type speaker. Nothing was said during our visit until at one point, out of the blue, he pointed to the screen and said, “I watch the Spanish station because their actors are better looking than American actors!” We all had a great laugh.

*He is HEAVEN-FOCUSED. I have spent perhaps hundreds of hours talking to Dr. Nicole. These have always been rich times. I’ll never get recognized by a school; will never get a sheepskin; will never add more letters to the end of my name — but I have a postgraduate degree from the Roger Nicole Dining Room Table School of Theology that I would not take $1,000,000 for! The instruction has always been Christ-honoring, biblical and experimental. Now, when we talk (er, when I listen), Roger often gets “caught up” in the message with a beatific glow that is hard to describe. He has the settled assurance of a man who has taught about heaven all his life and now is looking forward to going there.

I thank God for those thirty minutes. I learned so much — about finishing well (though I pray that the Nicole gene for longevity finds its most lengthy expression in Roger); about the true and lasting joy that only comes from really knowing Jesus; about myself and my failures to exercise my own (much smaller) gifts to greater Kingdom benefit. Oh yes, I just remembered: though Annette (Roger’s cheri) was not there, her picture was, and I told Dawn when we left how thankful I am that Roger and Annette provided yet another example of long-term marital faithfulness for my children. Happy birthday, Dr. Nicole!