theo #1 - March-April 2021

#1 | MARCH-APRIL 2021

IN GOD’S KITCHEN Leviticus and your suffering

COACHED BY GOD What happens when Jesus gives you the wheel

SERPENTS FIRST How to train for dragons

THE LAWLESS MAN When Christ exposed a conspiracy 0

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THEO INTRO Big ideas without the big words

IN GOD’S KITCHEN Leviticus and your suffering

SERPENTS FIRST How to train for dragons

COACHED BY GOD What happens when Jesus gives you the wheel

THE LAWLESS MAN When Christ exposed a conspiracy

FORTUNE COOKIE CHRISTIANS Welcome to the Theology Accelerator

CLINGING TO DOORS Leaving the city on fire

OMG Redeeming the culture

intro

world beyond treating it as some therapeutic “self help” tips.

The truth is that things don’t have to be this way. A lot of really cool stuff is readily available if you know where to look.

Imagine going to the cinema on a blind date with a movie critic and discovering that your date is literally blind.

T

Big ideas without the big words.

he Bible is the most loved and the most hated book in the world, but for many people it is also difficult, boring, frustrating, brutal, and weird.

But, of course, there are two more problems facing anybody who wants to understand and use all of this amazing book in a more mature and effective way, the way that God intended.

Christians are faced not only with answering tough questions about it, but also with working out how to apply it in the real

The first is the “interpretation industry” that has attached itself to the Church like a colony of barnacles. Instead of being a help, this coating of closed-minded crustaceans is a hindrance.

MICHAEL BULL

Despite their knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, and ancient history, these “experts” fail to read the Bible as an actual book, or “watch” it like a movie. Unable to make much sense of the plot, they are like commentators who don’t know the rules of the game —the blind leading the blind.

Or, to put it another way, Bible interpretation is an art, not a science, but studying it has become an autopsy. As a friend wrote, “If interpretation is more like getting a joke than it is like dissecting a frog, then only certain kinds of people will be good interpreters.”

The second problem is that a lot of really good work has been achieved by genuine scholars who do know how to enjoy a book and watch a movie, but their work is not accessible.

It’s not like they are Smaug the dragon hoarding all the gold they have discovered; it’s just that scholars use a lot of “academic jargon” (which is academic jargon for “big words”).

CONTRIBUTORS AUSTRALIA Michael Bull, John Cronshaw | USA Remy Wilkins, Dillon Hamilton EDITORS Michael Bull, Jared Leonard, Andrew Becham | DESIGN Michael Bull | ART 6-7 Annibale Carracci, The Butcher’s Shop | 11 Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas | 12 Briton Rivière, St George and the Dragon | 20 James Tissot, Hérode | CONTACT editorial@theo-magazine.com All material is copyright of its respective authors and cannot be reproduced in any form without written permisson. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

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As Christians, we not only possess the rich heritage of our fathers in the faith, but also the exciting developments of recent decades. Sadly, the good stuff rarely trickles down to churches, let alone to the wider culture, because communicating the wonders and benefits of it all is beyond the talents of academics.

Church people are left with a sort of “kindergarten” theology—just enough to comfort them and get them through the day. They never learn anything new, and the point of much of the Bible remains a mystery to them.

It is the sermons that are dull, not the hearers. Scripture was composed for common people, so it has more in common with popular literature, music, and entertainment than most Bible teachers would like to believe.

We already have the skills we need to understand the Bible. the Pitch, the Ultimate Ad Man, able to present breathtakingly big ideas without the big words. This is the motto and strategy of theo.

Despite its richness and depth, the Bible was not written in theological jargon but in common language. If the mass media can push big bad ideas by avoiding big words, big theology can be made just as accessible.

The theosizer

Churches wrongly rely upon spectacle and catchy marketing techniques as a substitute for the Spirit, but God actually used similar techniques by the Spirit to get people’s attention.

Getting a grip on big ideas can be tough enough without having to look up every second word in the dictionary, so theo avoids the big words and the big books and simply gets to the point.

The average Christian already has a lot of the necessary skills to understand the Bible—we just need permission to use them. In fact, when it comes to the Bible, everyday intuitions often outclass the academic “technicians.”

If you can’t explain something simply, then you simply don’t understand it well enough. So we have a giant machine called the theosizer, engineered from the combined experience of our editors and writers, that can shrink all that good stuff down to the size of a hearty meal.

When viewed afresh, the Bible shows us that God Himself is the Great Copywriter, the Master of 4

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If some topics seem to be slightly over your head, they will not be beyond your reach. It’s good to have to stretch just a little, and the exercise will help you to join the dots in the Bible in new ways.

So, when you think T.H.E.O., think This Helps Everybody Out or The Hugely Easy Option.

“Theo-” comes from theos, the Greek word for “God,” and it begins other words, such as theology. So, the main idea is that God will direct and prosper us if we put Him at the start.

What’s inside…

In various ways, the Bible shows us how to handle the tough stuff in our lives.

We look at what it is like to be the “meat” in God’s Levitical kitchen, how to fight snakes and dragons, and what God can do with ordinary people who choose to put Him first.

We top it off with a charming modern twist on the tale of Aeneas rescuing his father from Troy, and an invitation to a Bible course that will transform the way you read it.

There is plenty here to chew on and enjoy, so relax and take your time. n

“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WICKED AND THE RIGHTEOUS IS WHETHER OR NOT WE GIVE THANKS AS WE TAKE HOLD OF THE WORLD.” — JAMES B. JORDAN

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Despite some fierce competition, Leviticus holds the crown for “weirdest book in the Bible.”

But once we realize what it is really about, it can also be very encouraging.

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f you’ve ever read through the entire Bible, you will know that despite a few strange bits, the narrative in Genesis and the first half of Exodus is quite easy to follow.

But after that, many readers hit a wall. Things get tedious with the instructions for the Tabernacle, and even more mind-numbing when you get to the “deep weird” of Leviticus. It is tempting to skip over these passages and pick up where the story begins again.

TRANSFORMATION

IN GOD’S KITCHEN LEVITICUS AND YOUR SUFFERING

The problem with this approach is that these details are not only an important development upon what has gone on in the previous narratives, but they are also a crucial “information dump” that helps us to understand what happens afterwards. All of the strange stuff in the books of the kings, the prophets, the books of wisdom, the gospels, the letters, and especially the book of Revelation, is made a lot easier if we get to know Moses.

Fortunately, we do not have to memorize every single detail of the Law if we get some basic principles under our belts.

MICHAEL BULL

For instance, many readers ask why Jesus only healed certain people. The answer is that He was healing Jewish people of conditions that made them unfit to attend the worship festivals.

Just as an Israelite was forbidden from offering to God an animal that was marked, sick, or wounded, so also the Israelites who came before God had to be “spotless and without blemish.”

This explains the directions for those who had spots on their skin, or who found corruption in their clothes or houses. Physical imperfections taught the people about spiritual imperfections.

Jesus’ healings were physical signs of spiritual things that He was about to accomplish.

The apostles talk about Jesus being a lamb “without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19) because He fulfilled the Law and became the perfect sacrifice. He did that so that we, too, might be perfect.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

(Ephesians 5:25-27)

Why do we need physical signs?

Because we are spiritually blind.

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We are spiritually blind, so we need physical signs.

Under these laws, the Israelites learned that they were to be living sacrifices. We know that they understood the idea of substitution with an “innocent” animal not only because God provided a ram in the place of Isaac, but also because, as a memorial to the wound inflicted upon Jacob, they did not eat the joint socket of an animal.

All this talk of blindness, skin, blood, and clothing, along with Leviticus’ apparent fixation with “nakedness”—takes us back to the first chapters of Genesis.

Those texts are the key to making sense of the Tabernacle and the need for the Levitical priesthood.

Naked and ashamed After the building of the mobile “house” of God in Exodus, the new priesthood was given some very specific—and seemingly endless—instructions for the ministry of the priests and the obligations of the Israelites. If we have our wits about us, we might recognize the pattern of forming

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and filling found in Genesis 1.

God formed the cosmos by dividing things, cutting them open to make spaces for the other things with which He then filled them. This shows that the Tabernacle was a miniature of creation, with God’s throne at the “top” (the Ark in the Most Holy Place), the priests (servants) who “ascended and descended” like God’s angels between heaven and earth (in the Holy Place), and the tribes who gathered to worship at the “bottom” representing all the nations of the world.

But the Tabernacle was also a replica of the Garden of Eden— a more glorious replica. Decked with gold, silver, and bronze, this new Sanctuary was not less like heaven than the Garden but more so. And unlike naked Adam who was clothed in animal skin by God, the High Priest wore clothing that was made of wool, linen, and precious stones.

Dressed in things of “animal, vegetable and mineral,” he symbolically carried the entire world upon his shoulders as its qualified legal representative in the earthly royal court of God. Once we understand that the Tabernacle and the priesthood were a very detailed explanation of what happened in the Garden of Eden, a lot of things fall into place. The Bible does not tell us about these connections. Instead, like any good novel or movie, it

expects us to think about the strange things and develop wisdom as we make those connections by ourselves.

Making all things new After we correspond the building of the house with God’s act of creation, the next thing we ought to notice is that the sacrificial rites are all processes of transformation. In that regard, they are a lot like cooking.

Indeed, God says that He would assess certain sacrifices by the wonderful smell of roasting meat! What is going on here?

God gave Adam a world that was very good, but also very natural.

In that sense, it was raw. Adam was to take the good world and transform it into something even better. We see this in the talents of the sons of Cain in Genesis 4, who first established human culture, including metal work, music, and cities. This involved doing what God did—taking hold of the world, cutting it up and reassembling it as something new, something that was no longer raw but ready to use and enjoy.

But, like Adam in the Garden, the members of this kingly line took hold of the world without gratitude (Romans 1:21), and so it was taken from them.

This is why the first offering described in Leviticus, although it seems very strange, is actually

a step-by-step retelling of Genesis 1—but in the blood, guts, fire, and smoke of sacrifice.

The priests were “killing” the entire world and “glorifying” it by fire, transforming it into something acceptable to God. This relates to Jesus’ famous words, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

The actual world would not need to be destroyed again because the priests were mediating on its behalf, replicating the judgment in a symbolic way. This “taste of death” was like an inoculation that kept the disease of sin at bay.

Likewise, Jesus, as our legal representative and sacrifice, would “taste death for every man” and the entire world would be judged in Him. “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31)

Do not taste The Levitical regulations that prohibited certain foods remain a mystery to many people, but the answer is once again found in the first chapters of Genesis.

The first law given to mankind was a rule regarding food. Access to the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was prohibited. The reason for this only becomes clear when we realize that this event set a

pattern that is repeated thousands of times throughout the Bible. When we see how the Levitical food laws were only temporary, reaching their expiration date when the Kingdom of God came, we can understand that the law concerning the Tree of Knowledge was also temporary.

The Tree of Life was what Adam and Eve needed, but the Tree of Knowledge was what Adam and Eve desired. Likewise, we all need a house but we might desire a mansion. We all need to work but we might desire high office or a satisfying career.

Theologian James B. Jordan corresponds the Tree of Life with priesthood, that is, humble submission to the Creator. Adam was to understand that even if he was immortal, his life would still come from God. The Tree of Knowledge then represents kingdom, that is, fulfilling God’s command to be fruitful and multiply, and take dominion over all the earth. This would require kingly wisdom like that of Solomon, who was famous for discerning people’s hearts and constructing a glorious Temple.

The pattern that is repeated again and again is man’s refusal to submit to heaven before seizing power over the earth. Adam was to be like a child before the throne of heaven before God

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The path to lasting glory always leads through “God’s kitchen.” could bless him and make him a “mighty man” on the earth. You might remember that a Roman centurion understood this principle of delegated power.

Likewise, when Jesus obeyed God and fulfilled the Levitical Law, the food laws that were intended to humble the nation of Israel became obsolete (Acts 10:12-15; Colossians 2:20-21).

We see the same thing after the exodus. Israel was to be humbled by eating manna until they learned to trust God. Only then could they be trustworthy stewards of the promised cities and vineyards of Canaan. God even gave them a “taste” of its fruits in the huge haul of grapes brought back by the spies.

“For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.

And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (Matthew 8:9-10)

We also see it in Daniel 1, where the young Judahite refused the king’s delicacies and ate “seeds” until the true God was vindicated. Daniel submitted to heaven, and then in the next chapter he was given miraculous wisdom that led to his dominion over all the wise men in the court of the Babylonian king of kings.

So, if Adam had obeyed God and governed himself, showing some self-discipline in his obedience to the one law he had been given, he would have shown that he was qualified to govern the world on God’s behalf, and been given access to the Tree of Knowledge.

This also explains Satan’s offer to Jesus of all the kingdoms of the world after tempting Him to transform stones into bread.

Jesus knew that lasting kingdom only comes through priestly submission. Satan was tempting Him to take a shortcut to power and avoid the sacrificial suffering that would seal Jesus’ eternal rule as the King of Kings.

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 6:14)

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So, as in Eden, and in the books of Moses, the path to lasting glory always leads through

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“God’s kitchen,” the place where He takes what is natural but raw, and transforms it into something supernatural that lasts.

God gave us food to teach us about life and death, but He gave us sacrifice (and cooking) to teach us about death and resurrection. Just as the Man was put into a deep sleep and cut open by God to build a new body (the Woman), so also the nation of Israel “died” in the wilderness (priesthood) and again during the exile (kingdom), and was raised each time in new, purer, and more glorious form. That is why the image of dry bones is used in Ezekiel 37 to describe the return of Israel from captivity.

Becoming perfect If you are suffering, you are being refined by God. The fruit in the Garden was ready to eat, but the fruit of the Land—grain and grapes—takes time and skill to turn into bread and wine. This, too, reveals God’s plan to mature us. Any fool can learn to make bread. As with the Tree of Life, you just follow the “priestly” instructions. But it takes “kingly” wisdom and experience to make wine, which is why the Lord’s Table is an image of Jesus’ priestkingdom. In Him we have access to both “trees” of the Sanctuary: His eternal life, and authority to take dominion of the earth in His name through service and

sacrifice, wisdom and testimony.

We eat and drink with Him not only because we love Him but also because we are willing, as He was, to be broken bread and poured out wine (2 Timothy 4:6).

You are suffering not only for your own sake but also for the sake of those around you. God is preparing you, qualifying you, for a greater office. Even our sinless High Priest was made “perfect,” that is, mature, by suffering.

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory

and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. (Hebrews 2:9-10)

He and the apostles, along with Moses, also show us what true maturity looks like. It is not merely a priestly ability to endure in faith the suffering that comes our way in this fallen world. It is also a kingly willingness to suffer on behalf of others when we could choose to avoid it.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. (Hebrews 11:24)

In this way, we serve as living sacrifices who no longer need animal substitutes because Jesus has made us good, acceptable, and perfect in God’s sight.

And as it was for Jesus, the purpose of our suffering extends beyond the goal of our own maturity to the salvation of many others. n

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The Bible gives us many pictures of what it looks like to grow from immaturity into maturity.

In Genesis, Adam and Eve encounter a serpent, but in Revelation, Jesus and His Church battle a great dragon.

MATURITY All of the best stories follow this pattern in some way. If we have the eyes to see, there is an important lesson for us to learn.

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SERPENTS FIRST HOW TO TRAIN FOR DRAGONS

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REMY WILKINS

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magine a version of The Lord of the Rings beginning with Sauron riding into the Shire and lopping off heads in a mad search for the ring, driving Frodo to flight right from the start.

While Hollywood is probably scrambling to reboot the franchise in such a way, the rest of us recognize that this would be a poor beginning to the story.

Rather than making things more exciting, it flattens the characters, limits the tension, and drains the story of drama. This is because the possibility of death focuses everything so sharply on a single aspect of the narrative that all of the other glorious ingredients are pushed to the side. Stopping to smell the flowers is only a virtue if you aren’t being chased by ax murderers.

If Frodo is under the gun from the get-go, there can be no Fellowship of the Ring, no Rivendell, and no attempt to redeem Sméagol. Tolkien’s rich tale is reduced to mere spectacle.

A good story builds, adding elements along the way, such as allies and enemies, and escalating

The hero is never ready to defeat evil from the beginning. the tension between them. The longer the journey takes, the steeper and more difficult it can become. The hero is never ready or equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to defeat evil from the beginning. The core of the story is about how he or she matures even as the obstacles they face also grow in strength.

Luke doesn’t face Darth Vader at the beginning. He faces him at the end. Initially the threat is that he won’t get the droids safely to the rebellion, but the threat at the end is the destruction of a planet and the triumph of the Empire.

This narrative pattern matches what happens in the Scriptures.

The first challenge is deceit-byserpent. At the end of the story, the threat is death-by-dragon.

From Genesis to Revelation, the

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pattern is serpents first, then dragons, and the difference between these opponents cannot be overlooked without us missing some important details.

Serpents aren’t just tiny dragons, so in order to guard ourselves against the serpents and dragons in our own lives, we must be aware of how they operate.

We get a hint of the Serpents First pattern in Genesis 1. Man is put in charge over all things, but rather than giving a blanket statement, God gives a list: “…let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)

Notice that He doesn’t explicitly mention any wild beasts, let alone dragons. All that move on the land would include these beasts, but the great sea monsters of verse 21 are not included in this “dominion” list.

The same pattern is found in the challenge faced by Adam, where the Tree of Life represented priestly obedience (childhood), and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented kingly rule (adulthood). Adam was not ready to rule until he learned to obey His Father.

Like adulthood, dragons are a 14

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From Genesis to Revelation, it’s serpents first, then dragons. challenge to our wits and strength that must be grown into.

The fact that the great wild beasts aren’t mentioned specifically in Genesis 1 foreshadows the danger. The first one that shows up is the serpent, which we are told is the most cunning of the beasts of the field. (Of course, the serpent is later demoted to a creeping thing in Genesis 3:14.)

We all know how that one turned out, but the key thing to note is how the serpent conquers. The dangers of a dragon are apparent (teeth, swords, armies, death), but the serpent’s weapon is deceit.

Like Satan in the temptation of Christ, the serpent conquers through the twisting of God’s Word, and the book of Genesis records various attempts by the Seed of the Serpent to deceive the Seed of the Woman, from the twisted words of Babel, to Laban’s sleight of hand against Jacob, and the lies told about Joseph. The people of God must contend with these tactics, but in sending His sheep among wolves,

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God counsels them to be as wise as serpents. So, for every Mrs. Potiphar there is the shrewdness of an Abraham and a Rebekah.

After deceit, the next tactic is violence, or, to put it another way, deceit in Eden turns to death in Egypt. The stakes are raised in the book of Exodus as the Hebrew people are enslaved and their sons are murdered. The Seed of the Serpent no longer deceives, but consumes. It is here that dragons appear for the first time since Genesis 1.

In confronting Pharaoh, Aaron is to cast down his rod so that it is turned into a serpent. But the word used is actually dragon, the one used in Genesis 1:21.

Pharaoh fights back with his own secret arts and they have a duel.

“But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” (Exodus 7:12).

The dragons of Egypt were outdragoned by the God of dragons.

From this point forward Israel is afflicted with the great monsters, surrounded on all sides by beastly Philistia, Assyria and Babylon. While serpents gather in the books of Moses, dragons abound in the books of the kings and the prophets.

Job receives a psalm from God Himself on the power of the great sea dragon, Leviathan.

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?” (Job 41:1-10)

No man yet could deal with the power of dragons, but things were changing. Under the training and protection of God, mankind was being steadily equipped to fight against them.

Three thousand years after Adam, Goliath of Gath, shining in bronze like the fiery serpent lifted up on a pole in the wilderness, (1 Samuel 17:5-6; Numbers 21:9), was slain and decapitated by David. Another serpent, Haman the Agagite, a cunning descendant of the Amalekite king that Saul failed to execute, was outsmarted and hanged upon his own gallows—

God brings the dragon into man’s domain for battle. and the word that is used for gallows is “tree.”

Steadily, the monsters of the sea are reeled onto land where they can be trodden upon. This is the picture given to us in the Psalms.

You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the dragon you will trample underfoot.

(Psalm 91:13) You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

(Psalm 74:14)

As in Eden, in Israel, and in Esther, God brings the dragon into man’s domain for battle as a means by which He intends to transform us. To combat the serpent’s deceit, the man must speak the truth. To combat the dragon’s mouth, the man must give himself as food. The Son of Man would be hung on a tree just as the bronze serpent was lifted up the wilderness, broken for us and given to every creature of the wilderness as food.

After failing to deceive Jesus, Satan unleashed violence like a dragon. But his rage exposed him, and the death of Jesus was the death of death. If truth is the undoing of deceit, then sacrifice is the undoing of violence. Evil is undone by Word and Sacrament.

Revelation’s fiery red dragon, waiting to devour the Seed of the Woman, was overcome by the witness and martyrdoms of Christ and His saints.

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. (Revelation 12:11).

Certain enemies must be grown into. You must be so tall for certain trials. The Bilbo who struggles to feed thirteen dwarves in the beginning must grow before he can deal with the wiley words of Gollum, and more still before he can stand up to the formidable, fire-breathing Smaug.

Unlike Adam and Eve, naked and exiled, we are now clothed in the armor of God, with full access to the Sanctuary. As royal priests, we grow to meet our enemies, and we fight undaunted, whether they be serpents or dragons. n

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CHRISTIAN LIFE

COACHED

BY GOD

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN JESUS GIVES YOU THE WHEEL

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od calls some people to do “great things,” but the Bible shows us that He always has important work for everyone to do as well.

IMAGE David Hill, Deep Hill Media

Whatever your role in life, never think to yourself that because you are not in Christian work that you are not a missionary.

The Great Commission is a job for every believer. I can’t tell you how it should fit into your life, but I can tell you how it has worked out in mine.

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Along with the big names in the Bible, God called every member of the nation of Israel, and calls every member of the Church, to serve Him where we are. Some people say we are to bloom where we are planted.

After finishing high school, I received a scholarship to attend a Teachers’ College in the regional town of Armidale in NSW, Australia. In my second year, having been a Christian for just one year, and with no church background experience, I was elected the President of the Christian Fellowship. During my first few years of teaching in the small country town of Nabiac,

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I was active in the little church and also invited to get involved with the local Beach Mission.

Looking back over these formative years, I can see the hand of God in the directions, advice, and encouragement I received from other leaders.

A number of Christian books, especially biographies, also had a profound influence on my life.

Sensing that I was being called to serve God more fully, I spoke to a bishop about attending Bible College and going into Christian work, but mentioned that I did not feel that the ministry itself was for me. He told me to wait until I felt certain, but the certainty never came.

I have always loved driving. I got my driver’s licence as soon as I turned 17, and at the age of 21 upgraded to a heavy vehicle licence. Posted as a teacher at the Central School in Oberon, another regional town in NSW, I also drove the school bus route every morning and afternoon.

Although school excursions are common today and can be quite elaborate, in those days they were rudimentary. My bus driving lent itself to organizing an excursion for the senior students to study sea shore ecology, a journey of 150km (93 miles) from inland Oberon to coastal Sydney.

My driving hobby was obviously becoming something more.

of ministry, so I took on extra

I still sensed a call to some kind

driving jobs on farms to gain

My driving hobby was obviously becoming something more.

some experience of the world outside of teaching.

After learning that a small, rundown tourist bus operation in the Blue Mountains was for sale, I realized the importance of praying about big decisions, since buying it would require my resignation from teaching and moving my wife and two sons.

I worked full time in the tour business with one other full time

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driver, a part time mechanic, and a few casual drivers. We also bought some coach camping and catering equipment and hired it out to other coach companies as they started to travel into Central Australia and other places.

Across Australia…

Juggling the day-to-day operation of Fantastic Aussie Tours with driving long distances away from home was not an easy task. The children were young, and my wife was left with running both the home and the coach business.

The upside was that we were sometimes able to travel together.

Lorraine would come on tour with us as the hostess and bring the boys along. Over the years, we saw much of Australia.

During my time as a coach captain and company manager, I was able to drive Australiawide, and in a feat not often repeated amongst professional coach drivers, I visited every Australian State and Capital in a twelve month period on tours that we planned, marketed and operated.

A significant opportunity arose from listening to a guest speaker at church one Sunday in 1976.

He outlined the work of the Bush Church Aid Society, a mission organization that assists churches in remote and rural areas across the country. After praying about 18

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My oldest grandson named me “BusPa” — and it kind of stuck. my idea for a sightseeing coach tour that visited remote churches to encourage them, the first tour set off in September 1977. This touring program continues to generate wonderful support for those serving, and to encourage those who travel on the tours.

…and around the world.

It was this contact that helped us set the scene for another operation that we purchased in 2008 – Christian Fellowship Tours (CFT). This offers a range of Australian and international leisure-based holidays for Christian people. These high quality tours are as good as anything available from a travel agent, but with the welcome addition of church attendance to the itinerary (in places right across the globe!)

BusPa’s Corner Taking Christian people on extended tours provided an unexpected teaching opportunity —using the bus driver’s tour

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commentary time on long trips to add value with some short devotions. Devotions are also included every morning on our CFT tours, which are led by Christian tour leaders.

My oldest grandson named me “BusPa” —the Pa with the buses, and it kind of stuck, so when we put the original bus driving devotions together on a CD with an accompanying book, we called it “Buspa’s Corner.”

What is in your hand?

In one of the devotions, “Moses and the Crocodile,” I describe the paradox of the way in which our all-powerful God calls very ordinary people into His service.

Moses was called by God in answer to the prayers of the captive children of Israel, and in order to show Moses His authority, God asked Moses the question “What’s that in your hand?” His answer was that he held a stick, a shepherd’s crook— a normal, everyday, practical tool of trade. Although it is referred to as Moses’ staff, and later as Aaron’s staff, if you keep reading the story you will see who it really belonged to. When the Israelites were challenged by the Amalekites soon after crossing the Red Sea, Moses said that he would hold up “the rod of God.” Regular, dedicated use of a common object in God’s service

A ‘Land of the Bible’ tour group in Jerusalem

consecrated what was ordinary.

Well, what I had in my hand was a steering wheel. As a young, inexperienced, and immature Christian 50 years ago who desired to serve the Lord in a way other than in a “minister’s ministry”, I believe that God has called every Christian to serve Him in whatever way they can.

I want to conclude with two quotes that have been very helpful to me in my desire to walk in the will of God. David Livingstone, the famous missionary explorer who ventured into darkest Africa in the nineteenth century, has a magnificent summary of what he regarded as “missionary service”:

“Nowhere have I ever appeared as anything else but a servant of God, who has simply followed the leadings of His hand… I have labored in bricks and mortar, at the forge and carpenter’s bench, as well as in preaching and in medical practice. I feel that I am ‘not my own’. I am serving Christ when shooting a buffalo for my men, or taking an astronomical observation.”1

John is the author of Coached

by God: The Successful Christian (2015), Buspa’s Corner: Thoughts for the journey of life (2017), and Land of the Bible (2017), an accompaniment to the Christian Fellowship Tours “Land of the Bible” tour.

And C. S. Lewis wrote: “He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.”2

1 “David Livingstone” in One Hundred Great Lives.

2 C. S. Lewis, The Efficacy of Prayer.

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WITNESS

THE LAWLESS MAN

WHEN CHRIST EXPOSED A CONSPIRACY

While there are many tricky verses in the Bible, it’s clear that some of them were never intended to give us so much trouble.

Paul’s mysterious mention of the “restrainer” in 2 Thessalonians 2 is a perfect example, but perhaps we have been looking at it the wrong way.

MICHAEL BULL

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eading somebody else’s mail is impolite if not illegal. But if the letters are fifty, a hundred, or over a thousand years old, it is a very different sort of spying.

We must remember that we are reading somebody else’s mail.

One of the biggest problems we have when reading the Bible is our habit of forgetting that although it was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. As a result, we are prone to taking things out of context. When we assume that the things we read apply directly to us, we can misinterpret them, and if we misinterpret them, we also misapply them. If we want to apply the Bible to ourselves, we must interpret it properly first.

churches (which include the seven letters in Revelation), before we come to any conclusions we must first ask who it was written to, and why it needed to be written. A better understanding of the context can put a different spin on our interpretation. Sometimes it can even change it entirely.

This relates to one of the best developments in theology over the past few decades, which is a renewed desire to understand the New Testament in its firstcentury context. When we read the gospels and the letters to the

A letter is always written with a specific audience in mind, so the author assumes that some things are common knowledge between author and reader. In other words, not everything is spelled out. Although these ancient

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documents were not written to us, they were still preserved by God for the saints of all eras, so they were intended to be understood, even if this takes a little spadework. God gives us enough clues in other Scriptures to figure out the tricky parts.

Let no one deceive you in any way.

For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is exposed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

(2 Thessalonians 2:5-8)

Paul was writing to Christians in Thessalonica who were afraid that Jesus had already returned and they had somehow missed it.

If we look with fresh eyes at what he says to them, we should notice that if they were thinking about the return of Jesus in the way that we do, Paul does not reply in the way that we might expect. He 22

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It is the job of a righteous ruler to restrain evil. doesn’t scold them for being so stupid as to ask whether they had inadvertently overlooked the end of the world! Nor does he tell them that they are being ridiculous because it was an event that was still thousands of years away.

It is clear that both Paul and the Thessalonians had in mind something that was imminent— “COMING SOON”—and that could have happened already without them knowing. So, Paul simply tells them about certain events that had to occur first, things that they themselves would be able to watch out for.

This is where we must remember that we are reading somebody else’s mail. Paul does not mention these things in a way that implies that all readers in all ages should watch out for them.

So, there are two questions for us. Firstly, why was it necessary that these events must occur before Jesus came again in judgment? Secondly, what was the “mystery of lawlessness” that was already at work, and how did

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it relate to these first-century Christians?

The answer to these questions is quite obvious once it is pointed out, but the main reason the passage has caused so much contention is the way in which it has been translated. I suspect that the translation would have been different if the translators had perceived what Paul was actually saying.

Who is the restrainer?

The issue hinges upon two words. The first is “restrain” and the second is “reveal.”

Restraint is an important concept in the Old Testament. It is the job of a righteous ruler to restrain evil, even though evil will never be completely destroyed this side of the final judgment.

When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” (1 Samuel 9:17)

The role of the Church is to deal with the sinful human heart.

When that fails, and the sin is not nipped in the bud through self-examination, sins can grow into crimes. That is where the role of the State begins. The priest must deal with evil in the “Garden” and the king is called to deal with evil in the “Land.”

While kings must show mercy,

justice must be done in cases where there is no repentance. In this way, they represent God, who is patient with sinners but will not wait forever.

God restrained or “held back” the plague (Numbers 16:48-50, 25:8, 2 Samuel 24:21-25, Psalm 106:30) but sometimes He restrained good things, holding back His blessings (such as the fruit of the land and the fruit of the womb, as He did in Genesis 3) in order to discipline His people as a father disciplines his sons (Genesis 16:2; 20:18; Isaiah 66:9; Deuteronomy 11:17; 1 Kings 8:35; 2 Chronicles 6:26; 7:13; Job 12:15).

But Paul uses a word that he also used in Romans 1, where it is translated as suppress.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:16)

The word “reveal” is the same word used in the title of the book of Revelation, so the translation is not incorrect. But the word also means to uncover or expose, so in Revelation it has a double meaning related to the reason for the prophecy: it serves as a twoedged sword, bringing blessings upon the faithful and curses upon the wicked. Jesus, who was exposed naked on the cross,

restraining, then Paul is calming their fears by telling them that the end could not come until the “Garden” sins became “Land” crimes. In that case, they would likely read him as saying,

Paul is showing them how God exposes a conspiracy. suffering for all the sons of Adam as the Son of Man, would soon be revealed from heaven to expose God’s enemies. All the good things done in secret would be rewarded openly (Matthew 6:1-6), and all the bad things done in secret would be news headlines.

“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.”

(Luke 12:2-3)

In other words, the coming judgment would remove all of the veils, all the disguises, open all the closed doors, and reveal the true nature of everyone and everything. The godly who had been slandered would be cleared of blame, and the hypocrites who slandered them would be shamed and blamed.

If this man was not the one being restrained but the one doing the

“And you know what is suppressing now so that he may be exposed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now suppresses will do so until he is out of the way. And then that lawless one will be exposed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”

If we take the historial context into account, we see that Paul is also showing them how God would expose the conspiracy.

As part of God’s legal case against the rulers of Jerusalem, the apostles’ prophetic testimony was something that those rulers continually tried to silence.

Firstly, they tried persecution, beginning with the stoning of Stephen under the pretense that he had broken the Law of Moses by blaspheming God. But that tactic scattered the disciples from Jerusalem and spread the Gospel even more widely.

Secondly, they then tried the more subtle strategy of false teaching under men who “came in unnoticed” (Jude 1:4). That is why most of the New Testament

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“CHRISTIANS ARE A RACE OF DRAGONFIGHTERS. OUR SONS ARE BORN TO THIS. SOMEONE OUGHT TO TELL THEM.” — DOUGLAS WILSON

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The Herods considered their own words to be the voice of God. letters condemn false teachers, and why Hebrews warns Jewish Christians against returning to Judaism, which would soon see its obsolete ministry terminated.

Thirdly, Paul follows up his condemnation of the lawless man with a commendation of the steadfastness of these saints as legal witnesses for Christ. Not only would Christians not be deceived by the mass delusion that was coming, but their own truth-telling would expose this satanic lie (2 Thessalonians 2: 11-15; Ephesians 5:11).

In context, the lawless man was a reference to the Herods, those who had stolen God’s throne in the Sanctuary of the Temple in the way that Adam stole God’s authority in the Garden of Eden.

The phrase “man of lawlessness” describes an “Adam” who sat in the seat of Moses (like the Pharisees) as a judge and yet considered himself to be above the Law, committing murder and adultery. These sins are worthy of the death penalty under the Law,

and have always been sins that rulers of the world easily fall into—even King David.

Worse than this, the Herods considered their own words to be the voice of God, as we learn from God’s judgment of Herod Agrippa after he had James the brother of John executed, an act that pleased the Jews because it silenced the Gospel.

On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied.

(Acts 12:21-24)

The event that immediately preceded Jesus’ coming in judgment with a two-edged sword in His mouth against the kings of the land would be the exposure and removal of the Herods and their Temple.

Although the Romans ended up as co-conspirators, the main enemies of the Gospel were the Jewish rulers and those who sided with them. The Gospel would be suppressed until the one doing the suppressing was taken out of the way.

The imminent trouble would be a

repeat of the events in Acts 12, but on a much grander scale. The first judgment was a sign of the latter. But the lie that made it possible this time was also more elaborate. The “falling away” from the truth was all based on the promotion of the idea that Jesus had been a false prophet.

If the apostles could not be silenced, at least they could be discredited. After all, Jesus had predicted that the Temple would be destroyed and yet, here it was, not only still standing but also nearing its glorious completion.

Character assassination of God was precisely the tactic used by the serpent in Genesis 3.

To avoid exposure, successful propagandists release a cloud of squid ink, accusing their enemies of the things which they themselves are doing. As the “Church” rulers of Jerusalem, the Pharisees despised the prostitutes and tax collectors instead of inviting them to repent and shelter under God’s mercy; but the “State” of Jerusalem, under the dynasty of the Herods, would soon be exposed as a corporate prostitute and tax collector, a woman in priestly robes who was “in bed” with Rome in order to maintain its local power. The birth of Jesus was rightly seen by Herod the Great as a threat to his rule. That threat was now full grown in the “birth” of the Christian Church and its

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message: salvation no longer depended upon animal sacrifices and all believers were now part of the true priesthood.

We know from the information wars of the modern era that suppressing the truth while pushing propaganda can be more effective than outright conflict.

But without printing presses or the internet, the only way to suppress the truth is to starve its messengers of resources. Satan did that by co-opting the Roman state against Christians under Emperor Nero. This “friendship” against Jesus, like the one forged between Herod and Pilate over the execution of Jesus, not only gave the conspiracy away, but also led to the Herods’ downfall.

Sheep and goats It also helps us to understand the end of Matthew 25, a prophecy that describes Jesus separating the nations as sheep and goats.

Many see this passage as an exhortation to care for the poor and the oppressed, but it is actually a judgment of the Gentiles after the first-century judgment of the Jews. It is not about individuals but nations, that is, principalities and powers.

The suffering of the saints exposed and shamed the rulers in the same way that Jesus did (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15).

The word “nations” is the same 26

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word as “Gentiles.” The clue to the meaning of the passage is found earlier in Matthew, when Jesus first sends out His disciples to the houses of the nation of Israel, commanding them not to go to the Gentiles.

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me… And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

(Matthew 10:40, 42)

That water for the thirsty appears again in Matthew 25, so Jesus is saying that all those rulers who refused to help Jesus’ messengers were on the wrong side of history. What they did was the equivalent of blacklisting or “cancel culture.” The Christians who were expelled from the Temple and the synagogues, no longer permitted to exchange their money for Temple shekels in the “Garden,” would also be unable to buy or sell in the “Land” (Revelation 13:17).

As the true Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus would come to the “Garden” of the Temple in Jerusalem in the same way that God came to the Garden of Eden to inspect Adam for spiritual fruit. He came in “the wind of the day,” and the word “wind” also means “spirit” and “breath.”

This explains why Paul describes

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God prefers to expose His enemies instead of destroying them.

Jesus as coming with the breath of His mouth and John sees it as the flaming sword of Eden.

Jesus gave up His “breath” on the cross and sent His “breath” to the saints on the Day of Pentecost, but the false “god-man” would have his breath taken away.

It is significant that although the Herods were destroyed, Judaism remains. God later also exposed the murderous corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet both Judaism and Roman Catholicism remain. The reason is that God can use all forms of rule as means of restraining evil—even Islam. But it also shows us that God, in His mercy, can avoid destroying the wicked by exposing them first, giving them a chance to repent, just as He did with Adam and Eve, and with Israel. Those whom God spares also serve as “memorial pillars” in history—like Lot’s wife—a warning to us so that we might not repeat their errors. n

BIBLE TOOLS

FORTUNE COOKIE CHRISTIANS WELCOME TO THE THEOLOGY ACCELERATOR It’s not true that people only use 10% of their brains, but it is true that most Christians only use 10% of their Bibles.

MICHAEL BULL

T

he modern Bible is a very thin book. Well, it would be if you took out all the parts nobody reads. For many people, much of the Bible is useless.

The Bible is the most famous book in the world. Like most “classics,” it is very long and looks very complicated. Because of this, it appears to be boring and a waste of time.

It also seems strange and opaque to many Christians, so the best they feel they can do is extract an isolated verse from here and there, like panning for gold

If you misinterpret an isolated Bible verse it could be “fake news.” nuggets out of the mud. But imagine if your eyes could be opened so that you could see that it is all a treasure of gold, silver, and precious stones. Imagine if you could understand the whole book as a feast instead of having

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to treat bits of it like Christian “fortune cookies.”

For many modern Christians, The Useful Bible is, in practice, little more than some “key” statements and deeds by Jesus and some “timeless practical truths” in the letters. Because these are extracted from the context of the rest of the book, we very often fail to understand their actual meaning. There is nothing wrong with quoting an isolated Bible verse, but if you

people waste time and money on B-grade books which promise to explain what is in it. But the material in these books rarely seems to connect with what is actually going on in the Scriptures. So these books rarely satisfy or bring much lasting, healthy change.

arrangement of His Word— remains a mystery to them.

But what if there were a way to “hack” the Bible—to “get inside God’s head” in a way that explains the what, the when, and the why?

The Bible has a key.

Christians who do want to understand the Bible better are given a lot of old A-grade Christian books or told to go to Bible college. There is a lot of

A “skeleton key” is a master key that can open multiple locks because it has been reduced to its essential parts. If you were given

value in this, but they are never given “the key.” Instead of getting a handle on the internal logic of the book, their heads are filled with disconnected facts.

an essential pattern—a single skeleton key—that unlocks every part of the Bible, you could open it anywhere and instantly have a big handle on what is going on.

They are fed entire boxes of fortune cookies, with a bit of background on their country of origin. They know what happened and when but are still clueless as to why God did the eccentric things that He did. His mind—the logic behind His actions in history and in the

Instead of feeling like you are lost in a town with an unfamiliar language and strange customs, you now feel right at home. You not only know your way around, you also know all of the short cuts. Even if you were blindfolded and dropped somewhere, you could guess

You already have the skills you need to understand the Bible. don’t understand what it actually meant in the first place, your take on it might be “fake news.”

God mainly communicates through symbols, sequences, parables, songs, proverbs, and even architecture. What this means is that the modern reader does not have the required “bandwidth” to understand the Bible. We have not been trained to pick up most of the “signal” so we think it is just noise.

Since the Bible seems so difficult, 28

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your location from the sounds and the smells. Not only is your “culture shock” entirely gone, but you also speak the local dialect so well that you even get the jokes.

This key opens the Bible in a way that makes reading and study a consistent inspiration and delight. It “unveils” the entire Word of God as the deeply practical “power tool” that it is.

It will exponentially increase your faith, improve your spiritual discernment, and advance your Christian maturity. Once you know how God works in the big picture, you become less vulnerable to confusion, doubt, and fear—and to the subtle, opportunistic false teaching that so often preys on God’s children.

This is the real definition of “prophetic wisdom.”

You already have the skills you need.

Now, although there is a single key to the Bible, you will still need your wits about you. Bible teaching in most churches is so basic and sketchy that raising the bar might be a bit of a shock. But since I have three grown children I know exactly how complex are the books, games, and TV series that everyday people consume.

Because theology is an art, not a science, you don’t need to buy a hundred books or go to college or seminary. If you watch TV

shows, go to the movies, read quality fiction, or even play detailed table top or video games, you already have the skills you need to understand the Word of God. We have been trained to treat the Bible like a textbook when in fact it is the very best kind of literature. God has used all of the same narrative tricks, tropes, and techniques to grab our attention that modern mass media bombards us with every day.

Your brain is a sponge when it is focused on something that fascinates you. Having the Bible’s key handy as you read and study it will fill you with that same fascination. Once you see how beautiful, rich, clever, arresting, and funny it is, the popular literature, movies, and even the games you currently enjoy will seem less satisfying and—I hate to say it—most likely a bit shallow.

This “key” is the key to an engine.

If this “key” really exists, how is it possible? The answer is that the Bible’s apparent complexity is the result of a single, simple pattern that is common to every part of Scripture. If you learn that one basic formula you will understand the Bible’s internal logic and your comprehension will be raised to a level you could never otherwise achieve.

This structure is like the Bible’s DNA. The same sequence is repeated over and over in different ways, but each instance is a variation on the same theme.

This “key” is a process of transformation.

God puts something in one end and something new comes out the other end. At the middle of the pattern is a “tight spot,” like the center of an hourglass, through which an individual, or even a nation, passes in order to grow into a state of greater maturity. The natural becomes spiritual. The good becomes great. This is the key to all reality, including the suffering that we experience in life.

Once you are familiar with the pattern, you will recognize it everywhere in the Bible. Even more fun is the fact that you will start to notice it everywhere in the world that God has created: in the pattern of a human day and a human life, in a human heartbeat, in building and furnishing a house, in cooking and eating, in sex and gestation, in growing up and raising a family, or even in starting and running a business.

Next issue we will rev up the Theology Accelerator. Join us for this transformational course. You will never look at the Bible in quite the same way again. n

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FICTION

DILLON HAMILTON

CLINGING TO DOORS Families rarely flee their homes in the sunshine, but the Sigurdsson’s did precisely that.

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torms and sieges seemed more appropriate times to make mad dashes to greener pastures and these pastures were forecasted to have a week’s worth of rain upon their arrival, but here, the Willamette Valley pines had their cloudy curtain drawn back early and no morning mists for relief from burdensome rays so heavy that they seemed to be cast by spells.

“All it would take is one slummer to toss his unfinished joint on the wrong pine needle pile and we’d all go up, today,” Granny Sigurdsson complained and fanned herself with ten pages of directions she had printed off.

Her son, Mike Sigurdsson, was

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on top of a tarp-covered heap of belongings, tying them down with rope, when he asked, “That’s how you think those wildfires start? By accident?”

“How should I know how these things start? You see a tinderbox and kids playing with fire around it and you know something is bound to happen. Shouldn’t we stay and water down the edge of the property?” Granny asked.

“It’s not ours anymore. We should have been gone last week.

We’re leaving, today, Mom.” “If we didn’t sell, then we wouldn’t have to leave so quickly.

Your father left me enough to have a house here and in Oklahoma.”

“We had to sell.”

“I don’t see why! Your father built most of this with his own hands.”

“You know why we had to sell.”

“Yeah, you quit your job.”

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“It was either quit now or get fired later.”

Granny paced the gravel drive in her flats but didn’t seem to feel any of the sharp edges. “Six generations on both sides have lived here and you leave it without finding a job some place else. Wouldn’t be surprised if it took you four weeks to get to where you’re going.”

“Why do you say that, Mom?” She stopped pacing and used the papers to point at him. “’Cause you’re leaving with your pants around your ankles. It’s shameful!”

Mike cinched a rope, tied a knot, and hopped out of the bed of his truck near the opposite fender well and out of her sight. He walked around the bed, testing each rope he had tied as he went.

Granny leaned against the bed with her shoulder, barring him from checking the last two ropes.

“It’s sold and our other house is bought and paid for. No going back now,” Mike said.

Lena Doyle shimmied through the front door with her baby, Rose, on her hip and dragging a wheeled suitcase behind her.

“I can’t relay all of that. Come tell him yourself!” She yelled back into the house. “Dad, I forgot one. Sorry!”

Mike clenched his jaw and strummed the rope closest to him. “I guess it can go in the cab. You’ll have to see if Granny minds. She’ll be the one riding next to it.”

“I don’t mind, Lena, because I’m not going.”

“Not this again, Granny,” Lena begged.

“I agree. Children are allowed to regress on these decisions.

Adults should not,” Mike said.

He tried to sidestep his mother.

Granny crossed her arms awkwardly with the papers in hand. She blocked his path with a painful shuffle over the gravel.

“The man who quits his job without another one to go to wants to lecture me about adulthood?”

“Daniel had to quit his job too, Granny. This isn’t a normal move,” Lena argued. She set Rose down. The sixteen-monthold picked up a chunk of gravel and threw it behind her head, meaning to throw it in front of herself, and said something incoherent. Granny almost broke her protest at the sight but the MARCH-APRIL 2021 theo

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hardened her resolve for her cause once the moment had passed.

“Mikey, this is my home. You should understand that better than most. Your father carried me through that threshold when it was completed and he died in the back bedroom and I intend to do the same,” Granny said.

“If you stay here, it’ll be sooner rather than later,” Lena said.

“I have no interest in extending my years if it means I flee all this family has built at the first sign of trouble. I mean to stay and fight for what is mine,” Granny said.

She shoved past Mike and went to sulk near the tailgate for two reasons. The tailgate placed an object between her and her opponents, but not too much to discontinue the argument, and the sun now shone warmest there.

“I’ll deal with this later,” Mike said, returning to the house to round up the rest of the family and check each room for forgotten boxes or bags. Lena followed. Granny whirled to make another point against the “deserters”, a point that stung and cut them to the quick, spilling all the lily in their livers, but they were gone.

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“What an awful last meal,” Granny complained. slumped in her patio chair. Mike dropped four bags of takeout on the patio table and returned to his truck to grab all the drinks.

There were seventeen members of the Sigurdsson family in total under the pergola that Mike was saddened he could not take with him. His father had built it, using only Japanese woodworking tools and methods, as a personal challenge, and Mike could not have been prouder of it. Now, in Mike’s mind, the pergola and the house it was attached to were reserved for the futility and fire that engulfed the heart of the city.

“Takeout is for those too lazy to learn to cook or those chained to their desks, and since none of you have jobs, we know where you all fall,” Granny said.

“The cookware is already in the U-Haul. We’re not getting it back out for this,” Willa, Mike’s wife, said.

“That’s another thing. You’re paying a fortune for this U-Haul.

Why aren’t we waiting until the

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rates fall?” Granny asked.

“Because they’re only predicted to rise,” Daniel, Lena’s husband, said. “Loads of Oregonians have the same idea as us.”

Granny struggled to sit straight in her chair. “There are not enough men left to stay and hash it out with these knuckleheads living in the highway medians,” she said.

“That would be easy enough, but it’s not them we have to worry about, yet. It’s their enablers,” Daniel retorted.

“No need to educate me,” Granny said. “I know how it all works and I still strongly disagree with what you all are doing.”

Mike turned the corner of the house, walking like a duck and carrying three trays of soft drinks, stacked one atop the other. “The top tray holds the smoothies and I forget about the rest,” he said, as he sat them down.

“Did you remember my kombucha?” Lena asked.

“Darn! I knew I forgot something. I’ll go get you some!”

Mike turned to leave.

“No, don’t worry about it, Dad. I can just have water.”

“I’m sorry, Lena,” he looked to Willa, “Has the blessing been said, yet?”

“No,” Willa said.

“Mom, would you like to say the blessing?” Mike asked Granny.

“You’re afraid of staying and fighting,” Granny said.

twenty-nine-hour drive, but we leave, today.”

Granny frowned and shook her head. “Why would I? It’s no longer my house. You’re the man here. You say it.”

“There’s nothing left to fight for.

Portland is no proud Ilium, but it does lay smoking on the earth as it deserves. Many things that were built by our blood began burning before my birth,” Mike said.

“We could always repatriate,” Granny said.

Mike smirked and said, “I will.”

He prayed a brief prayer. He covered all of their earnest needs and adorations that he could remember. Deep groanings took care of what he forgot to pray for, and most of that was for Granny.

All of God’s people said what they should have, and then they ate in somber quiet for a time.

Mike broke the silence.

“Everyone be sure to use the bathroom before we go. We’re only making one stop before we get to Ogden,” he said.

“My bladder would need three stops, if I were going,” Granny said.

“Stop it, Granny,” Willa lashed out with her tongue. “You’ve been at this for weeks, but we all know you were the first one packed. You knew this was coming.”

“I knew it was coming, but I’m not afraid of staying.”

Lena started in with an index finger and a crass word at the ready, but Mike stopped her.

“You are afraid of leaving. None of us are,” he said as a mattress might, firm and plush at the same time.

“You were never one to put out fires. Though, you did set quite a few,” Granny said.

“If you mean to say I had a hand in this tomfoolery when I was young, then I readily admit it and am sorry for it. Now, we’re on to new paths for our blood to build elsewhere,” Mike said.

“Yes, as you said before.

Piedmont was the place. Do we know if they are any good at wine and cheese?” Granny asked.

“Those skills are unlikely to match their skills with cattle and grain,” Daniel said.

Granny threw a look away from them all and said, “Hmmm.”

“I’ll plant the vines myself,” Mike said.

“Sounds as if you should,” Granny said. “I’ll be ready to follow you down once you’ve got the wine, cheese, milk, and honey ready for me.”

Mike shook his head. “We’re going today, Mom. We’ll play all the music and programs you like over the stereo for the entire

“To Norway?” Mike asked, bewildered by the thought.

“Or Ireland! Don’t forget about who rode in the covered wagon. I believe we have a Polish greatgrandmother on one of the sides as well. The Poles are up-andcomers, if you ask me. I really should climb the tree and see if there are any Hungarians about the branches. Now, that is a country we shouldn’t mind calling home.”

Mike evacuated his lungs through his nose in frustration and set about picking up plastic plates and utensils, whether their owners were finished with them or not. “We have a place to call home and we will begin our journey toward it, soon.”

“I wish you all well. I will see out one more summer on the boat at the marina in St. Helens and then I will join you all once everything is settled with the wine and cheese,” Granny said.

“We sold the boat two years ago, Granny,” Lena said.

“Well, there’s no need to say it with that compressed expression that lends one to think you are holding something back,” Granny said.

“You know we sold the boat. You

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made just as big of a stink about that as you are this,” Willa said.

Granny stood and said, “I prefer to forget other’s poor decisions.”

She returned to the house through the sliding, glass door.

* Elected for his conservative style of driving, an elderly uncle climbed into the driver’s side of the U-Haul and laid on the horn.

Engines fired in the driveway; five in total, starting with the U-Haul and ending with Mike’s truck. Mike checked the loadeddown trucks for any loose ropes, ties, or ratchets. Parents strapped in children. Snacks were distributed from back to front.

Satisfied by the state of each vehicle, Mike returned to his own. He opened the door and found Willa in the passenger’s seat, pointing toward the front door of the house, where Granny stood.

“You need my help?” Willa asked.

“No, I’ve got her,” Mike said.

On his approach Granny appeared angry at first, but as he closed in, it was apparent she was holding back tears. He came close and she turned and faced the door.

“Mom—” “I told myself I wouldn’t be one of those widows clinging to doors long after their husband 34

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had gone, but here I am wanting to glue one hand to a knob and another to a gun,” Granny said.

“Who would you be protecting it for?”

“I’m not sure. I’d never be allowed to live long enough to see anyone’s return.”

Mike chuckled. “I suspect I won’t even be allowed to live that long,” he said.

“But if I’m not protecting something for them,” she nodded back toward her posterity in their covered wagons, “then what am I supposed to be doing?”

“Do you believe there will be ones to return to this place?”

Granny quaked and said, “I’d like to think so. Maybe not this home, but this land. I’d sure like to think so.”

“Then, I’d say your new responsibilities are clear. The time for protecting this place is over. The preparation for a return begins with what you can give to those who may return,” Mike said.

“What could I give to them? I’m spent and I spent myself in this place. All that I could give has been sold.”

“Ireland would have been a return. What made you think of that?” Mike asked.

“There’s quite a paper trail. It would make it easy.”

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“Yes, but what makes it attractive?”

Granny shrugged. “My Grandpa Ryan would tell his stories and sing his songs around holidays or when any of us kids had to stay home sick from school.”

“You’ve already got the stories,” Mike said.

Granny sniffled. “I won’t be singing any songs by The Decemberists. I draw the line there.”

“Of course. Let’s go,” Mike said, sidestepping down the steps.

Granny turned, tired but happy.

“Wait!”

Mike stopped and sighed.

“Would you mind carrying me over the gravel? I was a fool to wear these shoes.”

Mike smiled, ascended to the second highest step, and said, “Wrap your arms around my neck.”

Granny did as he had asked.

They descended together, hopeful about the joys and jobs ahead of them. n

“ANIMALS CAN SURVIVE ON FOOD ALONE. MEN ALSO REQUIRE A STEADY DIET OF TRUTH.” — MICHAEL BULL

OMG REDEEMING THE CULTURE

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lot of what Western culture considers to be the benefit of rational thinking is actually “cultural capital” borrowed from the Christian Church.

Seeing how God’s property is being used in ungodly ways, it is time to start thinking about repossession. But our motive must be evangelistic. In other words, how can we knock their Dagon over and smash him up before we get our Ark back?

The expression O.M.G. (“Oh my God”) is a great example.

The abbreviation was first used in a 1917 letter from Lord Fisher to Winston Churchill.

Obviously, the unabbreviated phrase existed before this, and is rightly considered to be an abuse of God’s name.

Lending your tools to your neighbor is an act of loving generosity that involves some risk. But if they are using those tools to do bad things it might be time to take them back.

How can we “weaponize” this expression so that it brings life instead of death to those who use it? We remind people that calling upon God invokes His presence as a legal witness and judge. That is what Jesus meant when He said He would be among two or three who gathered together in His name (Matthew 18:20). He was referring to Deuteronomy 17:6, the requirement for more than one witness of a crime to make a judgment. Explain this to anyone who uses OMG and they will be reminded that they are unwittingly calling upon God to inspect them every time it crosses their lips.

Yes, OMG is a controversial title for a column (just so you will never forget it) but we will use it to look at ways in which we can buy back—redeem— our culture for Christ.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

(Exodus 20:7) Copyright disclaimer for any cited copyright artworks, images and text: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

contributors this issue Michael Bull is a graphic designer and author who lives in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. His passion is understanding and teaching the Bible.

John Cronshaw is the founding director of a group of tourism companies in the Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia. He is active in his local church and writes for some Christian magazines.

Remy Wilkins teaches at Geneva Academy in Monroe, Louisiana, USA and he writes at home where his wife paints and his five boys raise a ruckus.

Dillon Hamilton is an author who lives in the Cross Timbers, in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA, with his wife and children.

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